To Solemnly Swear: Year Two
by Jaisler
Summary: The Marauders return for their second year at Hogwarts. Rivalries will grow stronger, Voldemort's power will grow, and the Marauders will begin their biggest challenge yet. Second in a series. Read & Review please!
1. Dinners With Differences

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything you recognize from it. It's fanfiction for a reason.**

Chapter 1. Dinners with Differences

Sirius put up his last Gryffindor banner on his wall, this one directly over his bed. He flicked his wand and cast a Sticking Charm on it. This was one of the only reasons Sirius was glad he was a pureblood. He may have the Trace as an underage wizard, but, in a house with a full grown witch and wizard the Ministry could never prove he did the magic.

Sirius sighed causing him to think of Remus and how he'd disapprove of this "illegal" magic. Then he'd probably pull out a book from nowhere and tell Sirius that he should start studying or doing his homework.

Then he thought of Peter who would probably be sitting and watching, eating some snack. Then when one of them told a joke he wouldn't get it and they would have to explain to him. He was nice enough though, the innocent of the group, the least witty, least intelligent, but he was one of them and Sirius missed him too.

Most of all though, Sirius missed James. He missed the jokes and pranks, sure, but really, he missed his best friend. Everything about all of his friends. _And it's only been a fortnight_ he thought to himself angrily, throwing himself onto his bed.

He heard a knock on his door. "Come in." he said. Sirius knew it was Reg by the knock. Ever since they were little they had had a secret knock. They had come up with it once they got separate rooms. Sirius used to sneak into Regulus's room every night, and would do it. Now Regulus used it to let Sirius know that it was him and not one of their parents.

"What's up Reg?"

"It's time for supper." he said.

"Excellent, what'd Kreacher make?" Sirius asked, getting up from his bed.

"Mushroom stew." Regulus said. "Come on, Mother will be angry if you don't hurry up, and I'd rather you guys didn't get into another screaming match. Two should be enough for today." He turned and went down the stairs.

"Damn it, I hate mushrooms." Sirius muttered to himself as he followed his brother down the stairs.

He turned into the dining room to see his mother and father already seated. His brother say down in an open chair and Kreacher served him. Sirius sighed again before sitting down across from his brother. Kreacher gave him a bowl and Sirius tasted a spoonful. It was revolting. He chocked it down with a slight grimace and then took a drink of water. His father told stories about his work. Orion Black was an "investor" as he called himself. He gave large amounts of funding to the Ministry and certain companies gaining him both influence in politics and more capital.

"What?" Sirius asked perking his head up. He had heard his father say "Potter".

"I was just saying how Harold Potter, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, was in the conference with the Minister with me and was arguing against my law that would put filthy half-breeds in their place. I don't understand why considering, as a pureblood himself, it would only make his financial situation all the better." Mr. Black said. "More stew Kreacher." he added.

"What do you mean by half-breeds?" Regulus asked. Sirius was surprised he had spoken. Orion Black was very serious about being interrupted and he didn't tolerate stupid questions. _But then again,_ Sirius thought annoyed. _It's a perfect time for him to spread his racist ideas to the next generation._

"Anything that is part human and therefore even more animal like than muggles." Orion said with disgust as if something below muggles could hardly be considered a human. "Vampires, centaurs, werewolves. And where is my stew!" Kreacher ran up to him with another bowl, bowing and apologizing profusely.

Sirius felt anger bubble up inside of him. His racist father tried to pass a law that would have affected Remus.

"Did it get passed?" Regulus asked, turning to look at his father.

"No unfortunately, Mr. Potter made sure of that, though I don't see what his motive was."

"Maybe it's because he isn't a racist." Sirius said angrily.

"What was that?" His mother asked shrilly.

"I said maybe it's because he isn't a racist. He recognizes that there's no reason for people who aren't pureblood to be treated as second class." Sirius repeated.

"You have no idea what you're talking about! I see that being in that house of blood traitors and mudbloods has filled your mind with nonsense and lies. Just because you have to share rooms with that filth doesn't mean you need to become one of them!" Orion Black yelled back at him. "And don't speak to your mother like that!"

"Become one of them? You mean a human being? Do you realize how ridiculous you're being? I'm a Gryffindor and I'm proud of it so back off." Sirius then turned and stormed up the stairs. He went to his desk and scribbled something down on a scrap of paper before throwing it onto his brother's bed. _At least I didn't fight with mother this time._ Shone in the light from the hallway before the door was closed. Sirius threw himself onto his bed and just laid there for a few minutes.

Suddenly he heard a pecking sound from his window. He saw James's owl Aquila. She gave him an annoyed look. "I'm coming, I'm coming." Sirius said getting up.

"Gimme that." Sirius said as he untied the letter from the owl's right leg. The owl gave him a look and Sirius sighed. "Here, take your treat."

Sirius didn't have his own owl as his parents had refused to get him one, however he did have some treats. In James's first letter he had sent them saying, "Aquila will attack you if you don't give her a treat after a delivery."

Sirius turned his attention to the letter in his hand. He opened it up and sat at his desk. He began to read it:

_Hey Sirius,_

_I was talking with my parents and they said that they would be happy to have you over but feel you should "get to spend time with your family". I think they've gone mental considering they saw your mother around Christmastime. By the way she is a lovely woman if you're into evil, racist, psychopaths. Anyway they said that you could Floo over with your things for the 16th, and stay the summer. That is, unless you want to go back home._

_Remus and Pete are visiting around the time you're coming but I don't think they're staying as long. You can talk about it with your parents._

_Write soon it's really boring here._

_James_

Sirius finished the letter feeling happy. Only a week! Then he could leave this place until next summer! A part of him thought of Reg and how he shouldn't leave his brother with their parents but most of him was just relieved he'd be able to finally leave this prison.

He grabbed some parchment, a quill, and an inkwell and started writing.

* * *

><p>James flew around the back of the house. His parents had gotten him a new broom, a Cleansweep Six, after he got O's on all of his exams. He loved it. James did a loop and then went into a dive, pulling up just before he hit the ground. Since the end of the year he had been thinking about Quidditch and joining the house team. He was really good but he wasn't sure whether he wanted to try out for Seeker or Chaser. James couldn't remember which players from last years team left so he wasn't sure which spots were open but he was determined to get on the team.<p>

He heard a call from the back door and squinted to get a better look. It was his father.

"James come on down, supper's ready!" He yelled, gesturing for his son to land.

James sighed to himself and dove. He was a couple yards from the ground when he pulled up and glided towards his father.

"What's for dinner?" he asked as he jumped off his broom then put it over his shoulder.

"Fish and chips." Harold Potter said putting his arm around his son. "That was some top notch flying up there, you're gonna try out for the team right?"

"Course." James said smiling.

"You'll enjoy it, son. I remember my time as Gryffindor Seeker; we won the Cup every year from the time I joined." He said nostalgically.

"Was that because of you or McGonagall?" James asked with a smirk. James's parents had gone to school with Professor McGonagall and they had been good friends. She had been Chaser on the Gryffindor team and was legendary for it.

Mr. Potter chuckled and patted his son on the back as they entered the dining room. Misty was causing the plates to hover over her head and lay themselves on the table with her hands.

"It looks amazing Misty." James said as he sat down. He took a bite. "And it tastes it too!" he added with a smile towards the elf.

"Thank you Master James." She said with a bow. She began to leave the room when Mr. Potter said, "Why are you going in there? Sit with us, I insist."

"Of course Master Harold." She said bowing again before sitting down, her ears barely making it over the table.

Mr. Potter flicked his wand and the chair became taller. With another flick of his wand another plate of fish and chips flew from the kitchen and landed in front of Misty.

"And please, enough of this 'Master' stuff. Just call us by our first names." He added before eating more of his food.

"Of course Mas- Harold." Misty corrected herself before beginning to eat.

"Honestly," Mrs. Potter said to James. "We have to tell her this almost every night."

"So how was work Dad?" James asked his father.

"It was good. I had a conference with the Minister and Orion Black. Yes Sirius's father." He added, answering James's question before he had even asked it. "Anyway he was trying to pass a law restricting the rights of so called 'half-breeds' which he believed are inferior to wizards in general but mostly purebloods. He wanted to not only restrict their rights but impose a tax on being a 'half-breed'. It was ridiculous and, luckily, I convinced the Minister not to pass the law. The Minister might not agree with Orion's ideas but, the Blacks do contribute a lot of money to the Ministry so he may have been more willing to let it go through."

"Sirius isn't like them." James said, immediately coming to his friend's defense.

"I'm aware of that James. I do not judge people based on something they can't control. That's the reason I opposed this law, the reason we aren't racist like many of the Black clan." Mr. Potter said.

The rest of dinner was rather quiet and, later, James went up to his room. He saw Aquila had returned from Sirius's and had a letter for him. He quickly gave her a couple of treats before untying the letter from her left leg.

_James,_

_I would love to come to your's as soon as you're willing and I doubt my folks will mind seeing as they hate seeing me. They're starving me here! Since I've gotten here Kreacher has made my least favorite and the most disgusting meals every day, please PLEASE help and send food._

_Oh yeah, at dinner today my dad mentioned your dad. Apparently he tried to pass some ridiculous law against "half-breeds" and your dad talked some sense into the Minister. Thank him for me, my dad was pretty pissed about it. _

_Anyway write soon and can't wait to get to your's and to see Remmy and Pete, I'll think of some pranks and stuff we can do._

_See you soon_

_Sirius_

James smiled as he pulled on some pajamas. His friends were visiting soon, he had a new broom, no school for over a month, and he didn't have demon, racist parents. It was times like these that James really realized just how he was.

**A/N: Here it is Year Two! I tried to compare James's and Sirius's situations here, hope you liked it. Feel free to put prank ideas in your reviews, if I use one I'll give you credit. See you soon and please review, they encourage me to write and that means chapters get up faster.**


	2. Bookstore Brawl

Chapter 2. Bookstore Brawl

James woke up and looked at his clock. Nine thirty. He sighed, figuring he should get up. He propped himself up on his elbows before pushing himself out of bed. James walked into the bathroom and took a shower letting the hot water wake him up. He washed up and stepped out of the shower drying off before going into his room and putting on a pair of jeans, a red shirt, and Converse.

James went down to the kitchen. He saw Mum eating some eggs and bacon and Misty making some pancakes.

"Mornin' Mum, Misty." James said sitting at the table.

"Good morning Master James." Misty said giving him a plate of pancakes. James thanked her and rolled his eyes to his Mum who smiled. No matter how many times they told her not to Misty would still call them by the title "Master".

"Did we get our letters yet?" James asked his mother before digging into his breakfast.

"No you haven't- Is that them?" Mum said pointing to two owls that were flying towards the window in the kitchen.

"Let's see." James said opening the window and letting the owls in.

The two owls, one a tawny and one a brown, landed on the table, both of them with letters tied to their legs. The emerald green ink and the Hogwarts shield answered James's question.

"Finally," James said. "Can we go to Diagon Alley now?"

"Why do you want to go to Diagon Alley so much?" Mum asked him.

"Remember? We agreed to meet Remus and Peter there when we're getting our stuff." James said. "I'll write them so we know when to meet." And with that he ran up to his room. On the way there he knocked on Sirius's door to wake him up.

When James got into his room Aquila was waiting for him. "Good you're here." he said to his owl. "I'm gonna need you to deliver a couple letters for me." She hooted in response and James sat down at his desk pulling two pieces of parchment towards him and dipping his quill in some ink.

_Hey Remus,_

_Are you good for going to Diagon Alley today? I was thinking after lunch but I wanted to see what time you could go so we can coordinate. Find out for me and see you there._

_James_

James wrote the same message twice with the exception of the name of the recipient. He gave them both to Aquila and watched her fly out into the distance.

* * *

><p>James licked his ice cream. It was a double scoop strawberry ice cream with chocolate sauce and a cherry on top. He scanned the street in front of him looking for any familiar faces, namely those of two of his best friends.<p>

"You see them?" James asked, turning to Sirius who was licking his double scoop chocolate cone and looking towards the street as well.

"Nope." Sirius said continuing to look. "Hey is that Fabian and Gideon?" he asked pointing in the direction of two red headed boys.

James squinted. "I think so. Let's go see." He walked forward and Sirius followed until they reached the two.

"Fabian! Gideon!" James said waving to them.

"Hey James, Sirius." The twins said high-fiving them both.

"So either of you make prefect?" James asked the twins jokingly. They all looked at each other, thinking of one of the Prewett twins as prefect before they burst out laughing.

"Do you know who did get prefect?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, this kid from our dorm, Caradoc Dearborn. He's a nice bloke." Fabian said.

"Hey is that Alice's brother?" Sirius asked.

"Probably considering they share the last name." James said. "And that Alice _told _us that he's her brother."

"Shut up." Sirius muttered causing James, Fabian, and Gideon to laugh.

"So are you guys actually gonna try in school this year? It is the OWLs for you." Sirius said, trying to change the subject.

"Pfft, they'll be easy." Gideon said waving away the thought of trying his hardest in school. "When you're naturally brilliant like me and my brother here."

"I'm more brilliant." Fabian said to them.

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"Are not."

"Are too."

"I bet I'll get better OWL grades than you!" Gideon said.

"You're on. 20 galleons." Fabian said, spitting into his hand and holding it out. His brother did the same and they shook.

"Well, I think we best be off. We have important business to attend to." Gideon said.

"Yep. We have to fill up on supplies for the year. If we buy too much from Hogsmeade it'll be suspicious." Fabian said. "See you on the train." The twins left and James and Sirius turned around, crashing into a couple of people. They got up and helped the people they knocked down up. James looked up to apologize to them to see none other than his two remaining best friends.

"Moony!" Sirius said hugging Remus.

"Moony? What happened to Remmy?" Remus asked, recovering from the bear hug.

"Remmy is so last year." Sirius said waving the name away. "Moony is way better. Much cleverer too."

"Yes I'm sure you're very proud of yourself. Did you spend the whole summer thinking it up?" Remus said sarcastically.

"I resent that!"

"Hey James." Remus said, turning from an indignant Sirius.

"Hey Remus, Peter. How've you been?" James asked his friends.

"Alright." Remus said.

"How was the full moon?" James asked in a low voice.

Remus closed his eyes. "Painful as ever. But now there isn't one until September." He said forcing a smile that, to James, looked more like a grimace.

"Sorry mate." Sirius said, patting Remus's shoulder. Remus almost fell, not because of the force put into the pat but rather as a result of the recent full moon.

"It's fine. I'm fine." Remus said turning from them. James and Sirius shared a look. Remus didn't like them bringing up the full moon, understandably. James and Sirius had actually spent some time in Mr. Potter's study, which was more like a small library, looking for ways to help Remus deal with his lycanthropy. So far they had found little but that didn't, and wouldn't, stop them from continuing to research.

"So let's get our books!" James said, turning the attention away from Remus. He saw Remus smile at him in thanks.

"To Flourish and Bolts!" Sirius said, leading the way.

The foursome entered the bookstore, a bell ringing as the door opened.

"So we only need the _Standard Book of Spells: Grade 2_ and _Dark Creatures: A Guide To Protection_." Remus said. "That's all that's on the list, unless you guys need robes."

"No, me and Sirius got ours, my 'rents had them. Do you need any?" James asked.

"Nope, so I guess after that we can just go to other shops." Remus said, putting his school list back into his pocket.

"Cool. How about we split up, Sirius and I can get the Standard Book of Spells and you guys can get Dark Creatures. Then we can look around." James said.

"Okay, meet us back here in five, and don't start any trouble." Remus said giving them a stern look. "We can save that for school." he added smirking.

"Excellent." James said. "Come on Sirius, let's get our books."

They walked through shelves, stopping every once and a while to look at interesting books, though that wasn't often. Finally they reached the Charms section and started looking through the titles. Soon James came across the book.

"I found them Sirius!" James said calling his friend away from a book entitled _Hexes and Jinxes: Jelly Legs, Boils and Many More_.

"Cool." he said running over, still carrying the book. "Grab a few- uh, actually, I'll just grab them and leave you two alone."

"What?" James asked, turning around to see Lily Evans standing behind him.

"Hey Evans." James said, running his hand through his hair nervously.

"I'll see you in a minute James." Sirius said before leaving with their books.

"Hey James." Lily said. "I thought we were on a first-name basis."

"We are. Sorry." James said. "How was your summer?"

"It was good." Lily answered with a smile. "Yours?"

"Good. Sirius has been over since early in the holiday and Remus and Peter are spending the rest at mine too."

"Poor parents." Lily responded with a smile.

"Not really. They always wanted more kids, but couldn't since they had me, er, later. Now they have four." James said.

Lily was about to say something when they heard a crash. They looked at each other before running towards the noise. James turned the corner first and saw Sirius on top of Snape next to a fallen bookshelf. James and Lily ran forward and pulled their friends away from each other.

"Sirius what are you doing?" James asked his friend. Remus and Peter ran to them.

"What happened?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, we heard a crash-" Remus started.

"It was Snape. He called us cowards and-" he stopped for a second and took a breath, wiping the little blood on his lip off with his sleeve. "And he told me that my brother was going to be just like the rest of my family."

James felt anger bubble inside of him. He knew that Sirius's family was a subject Sirius didn't like being brought up but, from what James knew, Sirius's brother wasn't like the rest of the Blacks. He wasn't as outspoken as Sirius but he also didn't blindly agree with everything that their parents said.

"Don't worry about it. Regulus won't be like them." James said.

"Snape isn't worth it. Don't let him get to you." Remus added.

"Whatever, let's just pay for our stuff and go." Sirius said grabbing their stuff and walking towards the counter. James, Remus, and Peter looked at each other and shrugged before following him to the cashier.

Sirius was putting the books on the counter when James made it to him. Remus and Peter were right behind him and they all pulled out their money bags. They each paid for their things and left the bookshop. Before they left James caught sight of Lily. They locked eyes and James saw sadness in hers. He sighed.

"It's okay. You can win her back during school." Remus said patting him on the back.

"Sorry mate." Sirius said.

"It's okay guys. Seriously, I'm fine." James said.

"I'm pretty sure that I'm Sirius." Sirius said with a smirk.

They all groaned.

**A/N: Here is chapter 2! Hope you guys enjoyed it. This is probably the last full chapter about the summer, and then they'll be on the train and off to second year. This year will probably be more eventful than the first, considering all that happened in the first story was them meeting, a couple fights with Snape, and a few pranks. Please review, every time I get one it not only brightens my day but also gets me to stop what I'm doing an write some more. Anyway I'll update soon.**


	3. Train Ride Surprises

Chapter 3. Train Ride Surprises

**Disclaimer: Even though this should be pretty obvious I am not JK Rowling, nor do I own Harry Potter so anything you recognize from JKR's amazing series belongs to her, not me.**

James ran straight at the border between Platforms 9 and 10, his hands holding his trolley lightly. He blinked and was through the barrier, onto a Platform filled with people in robes, standing and talking across from a scarlet red steam engine.

"We all here?" James's father asked, looking over his son and friends. "Good. Now everyone get together for a picture."

"Dad!" James whined.

"Sorry James, you know your mother. Come on, it'll only take a second." Mr. Potter said.

Sirius put his arms over James and Remus's shoulders and James put his arm over Peter's. They all smiled as Harold Potter took the picture.

"There we go." He said. "You guys should get going, I don't want you to miss the train."

"See you at Christmas Dad." James said hugging his father. Sirius, Remus, and Peter all said there goodbyes too and, after James promised to write, they all jumped onto the train. They walked down the corridor, waving to familiar faces until they found an empty compartment.

"When's the trolley lady gonna get here?" Sirius whined.

"The train hasn't even started yet." Remus said.

Just then the Hogwarts Express lurched forward. Platform 9 3/4 disappeared behind them and Sirius turned to Remus with a smirk.

"Doesn't matter, the trolley lady won't come for another hour." Remus said a smirk now growing on his face.

"You think this is funny Remus?" Sirius yelled dramatically.

"Yes, I actually find it quite amusing now that you mention it." Remus said with a chuckle. James too started smiling.

"Well when I die of hunger I'll be the one laughing!" Sirius shot back.

"How could you though? You'd be dead." Peter asked, slightly confused. James and Remus roared with laughter. James felt tears growing in his eyes and wiped them away as he laughed almost uncontrollably.

After a few minutes their laughter died down. Sirius acted indignant but James could tell he was fighting a smile.

"Sirius?"

James and his friends turned and faced the compartment door. James saw a boy greatly resembling Sirius the first time they met. He had dark, longish hair. He had stormy grey eyes but they were different than Sirius's. They were more fearful, less confident than Sirius, but James knew that this must be Regulus Black; Sirius's brother.

"Reg?" Sirius asked, surprised.

"Do you mind if I sit with you guys?" Regulus asked, shuffling his feet. Sirius's eyebrows rose in surprise. He shot a quick look at James, then Remus and Peter. James gave a slight nod and a shrug.

"Sure, come in." Sirius said. Regulus walked in and an awkward silence fell over the compartment, replacing the previously happy atmosphere. After a couple of minutes of this Regulus said sarcastically, "Well this isn't awkward at all."

James laughed. "You've got wit, I like that. James Potter if you didn't already know."

James's acceptance of the boy seemed to trigger Remus and Peter to introduce themselves as well. This ended the awkwardness for the train ride. Regulus was similar to Sirius, only more reserved and he seemed nervous, almost as if by being with them he was breaking some sort rule and someone would jump out and punish him at any moment.

"Anything from the trolley dears?" the trolley lady asked sweetly. James and Sirius shot up like lightning and ran to her, pulling out their money bags.

James grabbed a pack of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, some Pumpkin Pasties, and some Chocolate Frogs.

"Remus, d'ya want anything?" James asked, turning to Remus who was the only one left in their compartment.

"No it's fine." he replied.

"What do you want Remus, and don't tell me nothing cause we both know that's a lie." James asked.

Remus sighed. "You know me too well, James. Anything chocolate would be good. But nothing too much." Remus replied. James knew that Remus didn't like people buying everything for him, just because he didn't have as much money, so James only bought him a Chocolate Cauldrons and a couple Chocolate Frogs.

He was just returning to the compartment when he saw a flash of scarlet hair. She hadn't noticed him and was right in front of him. He slowly tiptoed forward until he was on her left. James reached his arm around and tapped her right shoulder. She turned her head quickly in that direction before turning to him and saying, "Potter, I should've known."

"So I'm Potter again, I thought we were on a first name basis." James said remembering her saying something similar at Flourish and Bolt's.

"Sorry," Lily said.

"It's fine, though should I be calling you Evans now?" James asked, leaning against the wall between two compartment doors.

"Whatever floats your boat Potter." Lily said. "I gotta go now, see you around."

"See you." James replied, walking back to his compartment.

"How'd it go?" Remus asked as James handed him his chocolate.

"Dunno, we didn't really talk." James said shrugging as he sat down.

"Sorry mate, it's probably because me an Snivellus's fight." Sirius said apologetically.

"It's alright mate." James said. "Anyone up for a game of chess?" James asked, reaching into his trunk and pulling out his set.

"I'll play you." Remus said putting his book away. "It's the least I can do since you bought me that chocolate."

"What so you're only playing with me because I gave you chocolate?" James said putting his hand to his heart with mock indignation.

"Yes, I only hang out with you for chocolate, it's the reason I started hanging out with you anyway." Remus said smirking. "Pawn to e4." he added.

"Well." James said pretending to be affronted before adding, "Knight to f6."

Their game continued for almost an hour before ending with James's surprising defeat. James had been one move from Checkmate when Remus, in moving his king from danger, trapped James's King.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" James yelled dramatically, getting to his knees. "You cheated!" James accused pointing a finger at Remus.

"Nope, you just didn't realize where my bishop was." Remus said with a smirk. "Maybe you're losing your touch."

"Hmph." James said. "I'm gonna go find Evans." And with that he exited their compartment.

James walked down the corridor, looking into the compartments through the window until he saw the familiar red haired girl in a compartment with three others which James knew to be Alice Dearborn, Mary Macdonald, and Marlene McKinnon.

James slid the compartment door open. "Hello ladies." he said leaning on the doorframe. "Would you mind if I sit here for a couple minutes?" he asked. "I have food." he added holding out what was left of his snacks.

"Sure."

"Yeah."

"Come on in."

Lily's friends beckoned him and he walked in, sitting in an empty seat.

"So how was your summer Dearborn?" James asked turning to the girl to his right.

Alice opened her mouth to respond when the compartment door opened again. The boy standing in the doorway had dark, greasy hair and was wearing Hogwarts robes with a Slytherin emblem; Severus Snape. He looked like he was about to say something when he noticed James. His face turned to a scowl.

"Potter." he said venomously

"Snivellus." James said calmly in reply.

"What's _he _doing here?" Snape asked, looking to Lily.

"I'm sitting with Lily and her friends, I think that's pretty clear." James said leaning back in his chair to show Snape that he wasn't going anywhere.

"You little-" Snape started pulling out his wand.

"What's that Snivelly, taking me on without your gang?" James taunted pulling out his wand too. "Didn't think you had the guts."

"Stop! Both of you!" Lily shouted, jumping in between the two.

"Whatever." Snape said, turning on his heel and stalking off.

James stood up. "I should go." he said walking out of the compartment. "Sorry." he said looking directly at Lily before closing the door and returning to his own compartment.

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait but here it is, Chapter 3! I hope you like it and if you do (or you don't) you should review and tell me what you think. I don't think it's my best but, hopefully, the next few will be better. **


	4. Slytherin and Sadness

Chapter 4. Slytherin and Sadness

The Hogwarts Express slowed to a stop at Hogsmeade Station. Sirius got up from his seat, leading his friends and his brother. He saw Hagrid holding up a lantern and calling for first years. Sirius patted his brother on the back before walking over to the carriages, watching Regulus go to the boats.

"Sirius, you coming or what?" James called to him. "The carriages are leaving!"

Sirius ran over to them, jumping into the carriage right as they started to move. He sat next to James, feeling the carriage move along the path, leading to Hogwarts, his first real home.

Suddenly the carriages stopped. Sirius got up and followed James out the door. They walked up into the Entrance Hall and through the oak doors into the Great Hall.

"I'm so glad we aren't first years anymore." Sirius said happily as he sat down at the Gryffindor table. "I hated being the youngest people here."

"Well we're still only second years, pretty young compared to almost the entire school." Remus pointed out.

"Yeah but now there are people smaller than us!" Sirius said, refusing to let Remus burst his bubble.

"Who's that?" Peter asked, pointing to the man sitting next to Professor McGonagall. Sirius looked at him. He had dark, straight hair about shoulder length. His collar was up and buttoned so that no neck showed. His eyes were dark too and he didn't look happy. His face was a scowl and his eyes were surveying the children at each table and judging them, as if already deciding who would be worth his time. Sirius felt himself flashing back to his youth, the first time he saw that face.

Suddenly the double doors opened up and McGonagall led a line of nervous first years. She put a stool down in front of the Teachers' table and placed a shabby hat down on it.

The hat opened its mouth, startling some of the first years, and began to sing. Sirius yawned and sat back, leaning his head in his hand, not listening. He already knew all about the Houses, all he cared about was his brother's sorting.

* * *

><p>"Black, Regulus." Professor McGonagall called, reading from her roll of parchment. Regulus walked up to the stool on shaky legs and sat down, pulling the hat onto his head, blocking out his sight. Before he was enveloped by the Hat, the last thing he saw was Sirius waving to him.<p>

"Another Black eh?" The Sorting Hat said. "But maybe you're more like your brother than the rest of your family."

Regulus said nothing but the Hat continued to voice his thoughts to him.

"You've got brains, I'll give you that, but I don't think Ravenclaw would be good. Neither would Hufflepuff. So it's down to Slytherin or Gryffindor. What do you think; your brother or the rest of your family.

Regulus felt emotions rush through him. He could choose! But the chose, his family or his brother? The decision would change his life: he could be a disgrace to his family, but have his brother with him, protecting him. Regulus didn't want to be a mindless follower of his family's ideas but he didn't want to be a disgrace either.

"Would you prefer if I chose for you so you can just be angry at me if it doesn't turn out right?" the Sorting Hat said obviously sensing Regulus's uncertainty.

"You have a spark of courage that would grow in Gryffindor but I think you'd be better suited with the Slytherins. This is your last chance to speak your mind."

Regulus thought of Sirius and was about to stand up for himself, prove he was a Gryffindor but then he imagined his mother's face and the thought vanished.

"Very well. SLYTHERIN!"

* * *

><p>"SLYTHERIN!" Sirius heard the Sorting Hat yell and he heard the sound of his heart breaking along with it. In that moment he knew that everything had changed. His brother wouldn't be a Marauder-in-training, he wouldn't be in the dorm right below his, they wouldn't see each other, and, without his influence, Sirius knew that Regulus would fall for all of the pureblood garbage that their family and every other Slytherin believed. In that moment, when his little brother's sad eyes caught his, when his brother turned his back on him and walked to the Slytherin table next to Snape and Avery and Malfoy, Sirius knew that he was losing his brother and there was absolutely nothing that he could do about it.<p>

James thought he was the only person up when he awoke at six in the morning. It was raining outside and James assumed that thunder had woken him up. Being unable to fall asleep again he got dressed in his school uniform and went down to the common room. He saw someone sitting on the couch and staring at the fire and, for a second, he thought it was Lily, before he realized that it was not only a black haired person, but also a boy, and his best friend.

"Sirius?" James asked, walking up the couch. "What's wrong mate?"

Sirius didn't answer; instead, he just looked away from James and into the fire.

"It's about Regulus, isn't it?" James asked though he already knew the answer. "Listen, it doesn't matter if your brother is in Slytherin, he's still your brother." James said. He thought he heard a stair creak but ignored it.

"It's not because he got sorted into Slytherin." Sirius chocked out. James was surprised to see that his friend appeared to be crying. "It's because now I can't stop him from listening to what they say, their ideas. He's easily influenced and likes to make people happy, and they're gonna turn him into another evil, prejudice puppet. I've been losing him for years and now I've lost him. I've failed."

"Mate, you haven't failed. I know he's your brother but if he's going to just turn his back on you, which hasn't even happened yet mind you, then he isn't worth it. You still have brothers, you have us." James stood up. "Come on, why don't you go upstairs and get dressed for school, unless you don't want to, I could tell our teachers that you're sick."

"No, that's okay. I'll see you in a few." Sirius said before going upstairs to their dorm.

"That was really sweet." Someone said from behind James. He turned to see Lily Evans standing behind him, a book in hand.

"Honestly, you and Remus with your books, it's like you're never without one." James said with a chuckle.

"That was really sweet what you did for Sirius." Lily repeated.

"That? It was nothing; I was just helping my mate. He'd do the same for me." James said.

Lily gave him a strange look that James couldn't identify before wishing him a good morning and beginning to read. James went up to his dorm to wake up Remus, Peter, and Frank.

* * *

><p>On the first day of Defence Against the Dark Arts the second year Gryffindors and Slytherins (who have the class together) were waiting outside the classroom for Professor Tenebrae. To say the least, neither group was happy about sharing a class with the exception of Lily and Snape. James wasn't very happy with the arrangement and not just because of his dislike of most of the people in the Slytherin House. Though he would never admit it he was extremely jealous of Snape's relationship with Lily. He was jolted from his thoughts by the Professor opening the classroom door and telling the class to take a seat.<p>

James walked into the classroom at the back of the line and noticed the class split down the middle into a Gryffindor half and a Slytherin half. He didn't dwell long on this before sitting down next to Sirius and pulling out his stuff.

"So," Tenebrae began. "This year I am supposed to teach you about Dark creatures. We will start with basic water creatures, and then study smaller creatures of certain areas. After winter break we will begin to deal with larger animals and then start studying part human animals. Finally we will study larger and more dangerous animals until the end of the year."

"Isn't that more Care of Magical Creatures?" Sirius asked.

"Raise your hand when talking in my class." Tenebrae said angrily.

Sirius raised his hand high and repeated the question, keeping his arm up. "Isn't that more Care of Magical Creatures?" The Gryffindor side of the class laughed.

"10 points from Gryffindor." Professor Tenebrae said. "I will not have that kind of fooling around in my class."

"I wasn't fooling around I asked a question. I didn't realize that was against your class rules." Sirius shot back.

"Another 10 points from your house Mr. Black." He said. "And another word out of you and it will be detention."

"Now we will start with the Grindylow. Mr. Black care to tell the class what a Grindylow looks like, where it is native to, and how it lures its prey?"

Sirius sat in his chair, his mouth clamped shut as he looked directly into Tenebrae's eyes.

"Mr. Black, your answer?"

Sirius remained silent. Lily Evans, meanwhile, had her hand raised and was practically standing up trying to get Professor Tenebrae's attention.

"Mr. Black, if you do not answer me this second-"

"What? You told me not another word in class or I get detention, I'm just trying to follow your rules Professor but you're making it very difficult." Sirius said, trying to sound innocent. James could see the glint in his eye.

"Detention. Tonight, eight o'clock, my office." Tenebrae said angrily. "Now tell me what a Grindylow is Mr. Black or it will be another day."

"Why don't you jump in the Lake with your hands tied behind your back? You'd get your answers." Sirius said angrily. James saw that this wasn't going to get any better.

"Detention for the week." The professor said. Just then the bell rang and James practically pushed Sirius out of the class. _Saved by the bell _he thought.

"What were you thinking?" Remus asked the moment they were all out of the class. "The first thing I get, but by the last minute of class you were practically threatening him!"

"Tenebrae is one of my parents' important pureblood friends. I've had the pleasure of meeting him before at one of my parents' banquets, not a pleasant experience mind you. I was misbehaving in front of my father and Tenebrae and our kind professor suggested that my father beat me. Being the smart ass I am I told him that they already did and so he suggested some more painful methods." Sirius said grimly.

James didn't ask what "methods" Sirius meant but they sounded unpleasant. James also had a feeling that, despite Sirius having had a bad experience with their new Defense teacher, part of it was taking out his anger about his brother's Sorting.

"Well look who it is." Avery said from behind them. "I saw your brother last night Black. He'll make a great addition to our House."

James saw this was going to get bad. Very bad. He looked for a way to stop the fight but it was inevitable. He mentally sighed, already knowing the consequences that him fighting would have on his relationship with Lily.

"They aren't worth it Sirius." James said quietly so only his friend could hear him. He knew it was useless but he also knew he had to try.

"We're gonna teach him everything we know and by the end of the year he'll be just like us." Mulciber said goading Sirius on even more. James was about to retort when Sirius punched the Slytherin directly in the jaw with all of his strength. Mulciber fell to the floor in pain. Avery pulled out his wand and shot a hex at Sirius. James, who had pulled oh his wand, blocked it, sending it flying back at him. Snape came out from behind his group and shot a jinx at James who easily dodged it. Remus sent full body-bind back at Snape who dodged. Avery wasn't as lucky and was hit by it. James did one too, this time hitting the greasy haired Slytherin in the chest.

Sirius walked up to the frozen body of Avery and the in pain Mulciber. "Don't talk about my brother like that again or next time it will be worse." he threatened.

"Well well." James turned around at the sound of a voice and felt his heart drop at the sight of Professor Tenebrae standing behind them. "Fighting in the hallways, are we? Fifty points from Gryffindor. And a week detention each." he said with a smile. He pulled out his wand and unfroze Avery and Snape. He flicked his wand and healed Mulciber. He let them go to their common room before turning back to the Gryffindor boys. He reminded them of their detention and left them.

"Ugh! He's so annoying!" Sirius yelled angrily.

"He didn't even punish the Slytherins!" James added.

"Doesn't matter he'll be gone by next year anyway." Remus said with a shrug. "The job's cursed; no Defense teacher has lasted for more than a year."

"Good, I don't want to see him for the next six years." Sirius said bitterly.

"Whatever, let's go to lunch." James said, leading them as they walked down the corridor and to the Great Hall.

* * *

><p>The Marauders walked down to the trophy room as they were instructed to at eight o'clock that night. They entered the room to see their defense professor there waiting for them with a cruel smile on his face.<p>

"Welcome to your detention boys." he said. "You are to clean the trophy room for tonight's detention. All of the trophies must be polished, the floor mopped, and the shelves dusted. You will work until the room is up to my standards." He pulled out his wand and conjured the supplies they would need. "I will be back in an hour to check on your progress." With one look at the second years he left the room, a smile still on his face.

"What a jerk." Sirius said annoyed.

"I know. Did you see his face? He was smiling, feeding on our misfortune." James said dramatically. "Who wants to do what?" he added gesturing to the cleaning supplies to his left.

"I'll polish the trophies." Remus volunteered.

"I can dust the shelves." Peter offered.

"I'll mop." Sirius said.

"I'll mop too, it's a big room." James said picking up the mop. "And when me, Sirius, and Peter are finished we'll help you with the trophies." he added.

James started mopping. They worked pretty well for about ten minutes. That's when James bumped into Sirius halfway through the room.

"Why'd you bump into me!" Sirius yelled, pushing James back.

"Hey!" James yelled pushing Sirius. Sirius reeled back a little before raising his mop up threateningly. James raised his in response and they charged at each other with a battle cry.

Their mops met with a clash above their heads, splattering soapy water on both James and Sirius. James pulled his mop away from Sirius and swiped the mop at his friend's legs. Sirius jumped over it and went to stab his mop at his friend. James quickly used his to parry the incoming mass of wet spongy material. James felt proud of his deflecting when he got hit with a mop in the face.

James spluttered for a second before getting an evil idea. He reached behind him and grabbed his bucket of water. He then dumped the water on Sirius's head.

"What the hell!" Sirius yelled shaking his hair like a dog to get the water out. He was about to tackle James when they both got hit in the face with sponges. James and Sirius turned to looks at Remus who looked pleased with himself.

The ensuing water/soap fight lasted for a while and James lost track of time in the mop duels and dodge sponge game they had created.

"Excuse me?" James heard an angry voice from behind him. He turned around to see a livid Professor Tenebrae.

"Heeeyyyyy Professor." James said, stretching out his sentence.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked angrily. "You are supposed to be cleaning this room. Fifty points from Gryffindor! Now clean up this mess and don't say another word."

James didn't say anything but continued to share looks and smiles with his friends. They finished their detention without another word until they were dismissed and told to meet him in his office tomorrow at eight for their next detention. Despite their loss of points for their House, and the fact they had detention for the rest of the week, they left in high spirits.

"That was really fun!" Sirius said happily.

"You do realize that detention isn't supposed to be fun, right?" Remus said as they reached the Fat Lady. "Whomping Willow." he added. The woman in the painting nodded to the boys and let them into their common room.

"Ah." James said, sinking into the red arm chair in front of the fire and closing his eyes.

Remus pulled out a book and a piece of parchment from his bag. "Did you guys do your Transfiguration essay yet?" he asked. James, Sirius, and Peter moaned. "It's due tomorrow." he added causing them to moan louder.

"Why would you do this to us Moony?" James asked. "Why?"

"You too with the Moony thing?" Remus asked rolling his eyes. "Whatever. Do you want McGonagall angry with us? We've already lost enough points for Gryffindor today, not to mention our week of detention."

"Stop using logic!" Sirius yelled, throwing a pillow at Remus.

"No he's right, we've gotta do our essays." James acquiesced. "Do you have a spare parchment and quill?"

Remus pulled out some parchment, quills, and inkwells from his bag. Peter got off the couch and went over to Remus too. James, Remus, and Peter all spent the next hour writing their Transfiguration paper before finally finishing. Sirius had gone up to their dorm and went to bed already and when he finished, James went up and joined him. He drifted off into a dreamless sleep, sighing with bliss as the darkness enveloped him.

**A/N: A long chapter with a lot happening. I think it might be the longest I've written. I hope you guys liked it. I enjoyed writhing Regulus, he's very similar to Sirius but he's too unsure of himself, I feel like this will lead up to his decision to leave the Death Eaters and attempt to destroy Voldemort. I will continue Sirius and Regulus's relationship throughout my fanfiction series. What did you guys think of Professor Tenebrae? His name means darkness in Latin. Anyway, review please and I'll be updating soon.**


	5. Quidditch Try Outs

Chapter 5. Quidditch Try-Outs

_All Gryffindor boys and girls (second years and older) interested in being on the Gryffindor Quidditch team come to the Quidditch Pitch Saturday at nine. Open spots: Chasers. If you have any additional questions see Captain Dorcas Meadows _

James read the sign then moaned. "Awww! Seeker's taken!" he whined sadly. He had wanted to be a Seeker, like his dad had been, but now he couldn't.

"So just try out for Chaser." Sirius said. "You could still make the team."

"I guess." James said glumly.

"Cheer up." Remus said, patting his back. "Being Seeker would require you sitting up in the sky for most of the game looking for the Snitch. As Chaser you'll be part of the action the whole time."

James felt better at his friend's words. "Why must you be so logical?" he said with a smirk.

"Someone in our group has to be." Remus answered.

"Yeah I guess. Otherwise Sirius's complete illogicality would destroy us all." James said with a laugh.

"Illogicality? Big word James." Sirius said.

"Sod off." James replied, shoving his friend. "Any of you guys gonna try out?" he asked.

"Nah, I wouldn't want to give myself extra work." Sirius said, waving off the idea.

"I couldn't even if I wanted to, which I don't." Remus said. "I've been thinking about joining Charms Club though." he added.

"My parents won't let me on a broom." Peter said. "And you remember flying lessons last year."

James and his friends all thought back to that day in which Peter had, in attempt to float, flown up at least fifty feet before plunging down to earth with a crash.

"I can understand you not wanting to get on a broom anytime soon." James said after he finished flashing back to the event.

"Yeah."

"Definitely."

* * *

><p>Saturday morning James woke up early. <em>Extremely<em> early. His watch said it was four thirty. He couldn't go back to sleep though. He was beyond nervous at the thought of trying out for the team. What if he didn't get on the team? What if he did so badly that he became the laughing stock of the whole school? He got dressed and went down to the common room.

When he got downstairs he went to the couch directly in front of the fire and laid down. He stared into the fire and slowly felt his mind clearing and his eyes dropping until he felt himself falling asleep.

However, after finally falling asleep he was awoken. He looked at his watch to see he had slept for about three hours. James looked up to see what had woken him when he saw Lily Evans standing in front of the fire looking at him.

"Like what you see Evans?" He asked jokingly. James noticed her cheeks redden slightly before she said, "Sod off Potter."

"You're the one that woke me up." James countered.

"Well that's what you get for sleeping in the common room." Lily shot back. "Why were you down here anyway? Did the Great James Potter have trouble sleeping due to pre-tryout nerves?"

"Pfft, that's ridiculous." James said. "But if, hypothetically of course, he was nervous, would the Amazing Lily Evans have any advice for him?"

Lily laughed. "You'll be fine Potter." She said.

"Thanks." James said. "I'm surprised you're even talking to me Evans. I thought you would've hexed me into next week after my fight with Snape."

Lily didn't answer for a moment. "From what I've heard it wasn't your fight as much as you backing up your friend."

"So you aren't mad at me?" James asked slightly surprised.

"Ugh! I don't know Potter, why do you have to be so confusing?" Lily exclaimed annoyed. "It would be easy to hate you if you were always a jerk, but your not. You were fighting Sev but you were just being loyal to your friend and you're just so aggravating!"

James was slightly taken aback by her outburst and decided to change the subject. "So who told you I didn't start the fight. I doubt it was Snape." He said.

"No, it was Remus actually. We talked while we were studying." Lily said. James was about to respond when Sirius ran down the stairs.

"Oh there you are James-" Sirius started before seeing Lily. "Uh, I'll see you at breakfast." he said awkwardly. He ran back up to the dorm.

James and Lily stood there awkwardly for a minute. Then James laughed. "Well this is awkward." he said.

Lily chuckled a little. "Yeah. I'll see you around Potter." she said before turning away from James and up to her dorm. James sighed and went up to his dorm. He walked through the door to his room and fell face first onto his bed with a moan.

"Sorry mate, I didn't realize you were talking to Evans." Sirius said. "It's not like you were gonna kiss, right?"

"I guess." James said getting off his bed. "What time is it?" he asked.

"You have a watch on your wrist." Remus pointed out.

"Oh, right." James said before looking at his own watch. It was eight o'clock. "Come on, let's go get breakfast."

James and his friends went down to the Great Hall, James with his broomstick in hand. Once they sat down at the Gryffindor table James began to scan the table for a certain redhead. He caught sight of her farther down the table with a few of her friends. They locked eyes for a second before James looked away.

"So, Remus." James said. "I have to thank you. Apparently you put in a good word for me with Lily."

"I just told her the truth." Remus said in between eating his eggs.

Just then the owls flew through the windows. One, a barn owl, landed next to Remus with the day's Daily Prophet. Remus paid for the paper and the owl flew away. James saw Remus still buried in the paper a couple minutes later.

"What's going on in the news?" James asked his friend.

"You've heard of the Knights of Walpurgis, right?" Remus asked, putting the paper down and folding it up.

James and Sirius nodded while Peter shook his head. "Who are they?" He asked.

"They were a group of Dark Wizards that went around torturing muggles and tried to gain power in the Ministry in the fifties." James said. His father had told him all about different Dark Wizards and gangs as he was the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

"Yeah, a couple of my cousins were a part of it. I thought they disbanded years ago though." Sirius said.

"They stopped actually doing stuff but I don't think they fully broke up." Remus said. "Anyway, they've renamed themselves. They've got a new leader, goes by the name 'Lord Voldemort' and they're calling themselves the Death Eaters."

"Who names these people?" Sirius asked.

"They probably won't last long; they'll either go into hiding or get arrested for something." James said without worry.

Suddenly people from the Gryffindor table started getting up and going towards the Quidditch Pitch.

"Looks like your cue James." Remus said. James took a deep breath.

"Wish me luck." he said before picking up his broom and walking out to the Quiddtch Pitch.

When he got outside a sixteen year old girl with long, brown hair, hazel eyes stood in red and gold Quidditch robes.

"Name?" said Dorcas Meadows.

"James Potter." he replied.

"Year?" she asked.

"Second." James said. "I guess you aren't going to ask me what position I'm trying out for considering the circumstances."

Dorcas didn't respond but James thought he saw her smile. "Okay, get in groups of ten; we are going to do a few laps of the Pitch." Dorcas said to the group trying out.

When James's group was up he got onto his broom and kicked off the ground. He was at the front of his group and leaned forward, picking up more speed in the hope of separating himself from the crowd.

After he landed Dorcas told the worst flyers they didn't make the cut. After that six people were left with the three spots for Chaser open. She the split the six into two groups of three. The idea was that if a group of three worked well together and won the practice match against their opponents, they would get onto the team. James was put together with Max King and Annebeth Johnson, fourth years.

"Max King." the tallish, blond haired boy said to James, holding out his hand.

"James Potter." James responded shaking his hand. James held out his hand to the girl with straight brown hair that he assumed was Annebeth Johnson. She shook it and introduced herself.

"Take your positions!" Dorcas yelled and James, Max, and Annebeth took their spots across from their opponents, a fifth year, sixth year, and third year.

Dorcas blew her whistle and threw the Quaffle into the air. James zoomed forward and grabbed it. He flew down the Pitch towards the goals. There was no Keeper playing and the two teams were only playing to 50 points, or ten goals.

The sixth year, McLaggen, flew towards James, arms outstretched. James dove down underneath him and then shot up. Suddenly the fifth year who James didn't know and the third year went at him from two different directions. Out of the corner of his eye James saw Max flying beneath him. He threw the Quaffle behind him to Max who caught it and flew to the goal, scoring easily.

McLaggen started with the Quaffle. He flew towards James's team's goal. James flew at him and went to grab the Quaffle from him. In a desperate attempt to keep the opposing team from getting possession he threw the ball behind him to the fifth year. Annebeth flew right in front of him and intercepted it and flew back towards the goals. She scored easily, no one from the opposing team getting to her fast enough to stop her. The third year started with the Quaffle next but fumbled it, allowing James to grab it and score. It was thirty to nothing, James's team in the lead. McLaggen's team scored their first goal next but James, Max, and Annebeth scored twice in quick succession, ending the game in their favor.

"And we have our new Chasers!" Dorcas said happily raising her hand in the direction of James, Max, and Annebeth. They all high-fived each other happily.

"Great job guys." Dorcas congratulated them. "Practices are Monday through Friday, generally before dinner and on Saturdays after lunch. Congratulations on making the team."

"James!" Fabian yelled, running up to the second year with his twin. "Great job mate, you made the team! We'll see you at practices."

"Yeah." Gideon said. "We're Beaters."

"Who's Seeker?" James asked.

"Edgar Bones." Fabian said. "Good bloke."

"Yeah and great prankster, he was our mentor." Gideon said.

"Probably why he didn't make Captain but he doesn't care." Fabian added.

"Cool." James said when he saw his friends. "I gotta go, see you at practice." He waved them goodbye and went up to his friends.

"Congrates mate!" Sirius said patting him on the back.

"Yeah, you were amazing!" Peter exclaimed

"And Lily watched you the whole time." Remus said with a smirk.

James felt elated. He got on the team and he and Lily were friends, sort of. This year was going to be great, he could feel it.

"Come on, let's go to the Kitchens and get some snacks." James said, resting his broom on his shoulder and with a big smile he couldn't shake.

**A/N: Hello again, sorry for the time between updates but here's chapter 5! I hope you guys liked it. For the record Annebeth isn't related to Angelina, she's a muggleborn. Please review to tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, any thoughts on this chapter, or the story, at all. How did I do writing Quidditch? Anyway the next chapter will be up soon.**


	6. Bad News

Chapter 6. Bad News

For the next weeks the Daily Prophet told stories of death. James's dad had been sending him more letters than usual telling him to stay safe and be on his guard.

"Honestly," James said. "It's like he thinks I'm an idiot."

"It the shoe fits." Remus replied.

"Haha, hilarious." James said sarcastically. "I'm serious though."

"Actually James 'I' am Sirius, and you definitely need to work on your impressions." Sirius said with a smirk.

"Why do I know you people." James said annoyed.

"Because we are in the same House and at the same school." Remus responded.

James just groaned. "I expect this stuff from Sirius, but you too Remus?"

"I didn't realize you two had a monopoly on being clever and cheeky." Remus said.

"Well now you do, don't you?" James responded with a smirk. Remus just rolled his eyes. James sat still for a moment, trying to remember something.

"What were we talking about before?" he asked. Sirius and Remus just shrugged.

* * *

><p>James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were leaving the dungeons. It was ten o'clock at night and they had just finished their detention with Slughorn.<p>

"Next time you two decide to throw Filibuster's wet-start fireworks into Avery and Mulciber's caldron, make sure I'm not in the room." Remus said. "It seems that, to many of the teachers, we come as a packaged deal when it comes to detention."

"Sorry Moony but it wouldn't have been as fun without you!" Sirius said with a smirk. Remus looked like he was about say something when they heard something from the classroom they had just walked past.

"Lucius, this is a great opportunity!" A female voice said excitedly. James and his friends moved closer, James putting his ear on the keyhole.

"Of course, and I am honored to serve." Lucius Malfoy responded. "But do we really have to involve the younger ones?

"We need to follow His orders. If we do then we can become a part of the inner circle!" The girls said, even more excited than before.

"Very well Bella, we shall extend the offer to the children." Lucius acquiesced. James looked at his friends and saw a mixture of confused and slightly worried expressions. The next second though the door to the classroom opened and James was pushed onto the floor by the door's quick movement.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Lucius said with a smirk. "James Potter and friends. Eavesdropping are we?"

"It wasn't difficult considering how loud you are." James responded, standing up and pulling out his wand.

"Aww, the bloodtraitor thinks he can fight us." Bellatrix said mockingly.

James held his hand out behind him, telling his friends not to attack yet.

"What did you think you were doing, listening in on our conversation?" Lucius asked angrily.

"I thought I was listening in on your conversation, I figured that much was obvious." James replied. He put one finger down, leaving four up. As Malfoy and Bellatrix were trying to intimidate them he put down his remaining fingers down one by one.

"Expelliarmus!" James shouted. Sirius, Remus, and Peter each shot a spell of their own. Bellatrix cast a shield charm at the last second causing the spells to shoot back at them. James rolled out of the way and shot a Body-Bind hex at Bellatrix. Lucius jumped in the way and cast another shield charm. James then had to jump out of the way of a Stunning Spell.

"Rectusempra!" James shouted causing Lucius to howl in uncontrollable as he was mercilessly tickled by invisible hands. "Expelliarmus." James caught the sixth year's wand and turned to Bellatrix, only to see that his friends had defeated her.

"For a sixth year and a seventh year you guys really suck at dueling." James said with a smirk. "Come on, let's go."

"Shouldn't we get a teacher or something?" Peter asked.

"Nah, they won't tell. They wouldn't want to admit a bunch of second years beat them." James responded. Then the four left the dungeons and returned to Gryffindor Tower.

"Should we tell Dumbledore about what we heard?" Sirius asked once they had gotten to their dorm.

"Definitely, and I'll owl my dad too." James said. "But it can wait till tomorrow. I doubt Dumbledore would appreciate a visit at eleven at night."

"Okay." Sirius said. "'Night."

"'Night."

* * *

><p>"So you think that Mr. Malfoy and Ms. Black are in contact with Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked, looking at James with his twinkling blue eyes.<p>

"Well that's what it sounded like." James responded. Dumbledore didn't say anything.

"What are you going to do about it?" Sirius asked rather rudely. Dumbledore chuckled lightly.

"I'm afraid there is little I can do Mr. Black." Sirius cringed slightly at the mention of his last name. Dumbledore saw this and chuckled again. "I'm sorry, I seemed to have forgotten about your family issues." Dumbledore said to Sirius's surprise.

"How did you-" Sirius started.

"I try to get to know my students' situations, not to mention the fact that all of your ideas seem to be the opposite of your parents'." Dumbledore responded. "And in response to your first question I can do nothing about the problem as they had done nothing wrong that we can prove."

"But Professor-" James started.

"I'm sorry James, however, my door is open if you find anymore information on the matter." Dumbledore said. It was a dismissal and James led his friends out of the Headmaster's office.

"Well this sucks." Sirius said.

"I guess this means we'll have to find evidence ourselves." James responded, turning to face his friends.

"James, I don't know if that's a good idea. Maybe we should just owl your dad and let the professionals deal with this." Remus said logically.

James shook his head. "That won't help. My dad can't follow them during school. My dad can't get into the Blacks' house. Not without raising suspicion and putting all pureblood families on guard. If we follow them we could find out what they're planning and stop them." When James finished speaking, Sirius looked determined, Remus a little unsure, and Peter terrified.

"You with me?" James asked putting out his hand. Sirius put his on top of James's and, after a short moment Remus put his on too. Peter put his on last, though he didn't look very happy at the prospect.

"Okay. We'll need someone following Bellatrix and/or Malfoy all day for the next while, that way we can see if they meet somewhere or with someone. We can probably rotate who's following them, and we can use the Cloak." James said. "I'll follow them first. If anyone asks, you can day I'm sick."

"You should follow Malfoy first. Bellatrix is more likely to find out your listening to her." Sirius said wisely. "Plus you could beat him more easily."

"Okay, I'll start after, lunch." James said.

They spent the rest of the day catching up on homework as it was a Sunday. However, in what seemed like no time at all it was lunch time and the Marauders went to the Great Hall, James with the Invisibility Clock under his clothes. They arrived at the Gryffindor table and James immediately turned and looked at the Slytherin table, scanning it over until he saw the blond haired, sixth year Slytherin. James turned his back on the Slytherin table and ate a sandwich quickly. Then he stood up.

"Good luck mate." Sirius said. James nodded to him and walked out of the Great Hall. The moment he was through the oak doors he checked to make sure no one was nearby. Then he threw the Cloak over himself and checked his reflection in a suit of armor, making sure no one could see anything. Then he waited.

About ten minutes later, the doors opened. James hoped for a second that it was Malfoy but was disappointed to see Severus Snape instead. The greasy haired boy was walking with a couple of his Slytherin cronies and James thought he could have a little fun. He pulled out his wand and muttered a Tripping Jinx. Avery fell over and on top of Snape. Snape cried out and James stifled his own laughter at watching the Slytherins trying to untangle themselves.

Just then Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black exited the Great Hall. Lucius threw a contemptuous glance at the second year Slytherins before walking past them with his girlfriend. James quickly turned away from the amusing site before him and went in pursuit of his quarry.

James listened to their conversation and couldn't help but feel bored. Malfoy and his girlfriend had decided to take a walk so James had to follow the couple around the castle and grounds. He made sure to stay about a meter behind them so they didn't hear him.

After a few hours Narcissa said she was going to go study with a couple of her friends. James practically started cheering that he wouldn't have to follow the two love birds around. Lucius kissed her goodbye and they went their separate ways, James following Malfoy.

Malfoy walked around for a little bit himself. After a while James thought the Malfoy would head down to dinner as it was around six o'clock. Instead, however, he turned away from the Great Hall and went down a corridor in the opposite direction. James followed him, his curiosity growing.

Lucius kept walking and James began to wonder why the Slytherin was walking in the direction of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

Suddenly, Malfoy stopped, and it seemed James was right about his destination. The sixth year entered the room and James slipped in behind him. This was his first time inside Tenebrae's office and he noticed a large amount of what appeared to be Dark objects. James was slightly confused for a second. Why would Malfoy want to meet someone in a teacher's office, unless...

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy," the drawling voice of Professor Tenebrae said. "I trust you bring me good news."

**A/N: Here's chapter 6! Sorry it took a little long but I had a little trouble writing it. I hope you enjoyed and if you did (or didn't) please leave a review. Thanks**


	7. Awareness

Chapter 7. Awareness

"Ah Mr. Malfoy," Tenebrae said. "I trust you bring good news."

"Of course Tenebrae." Malfoy said, his voice giving James the impression that he was not extremely fond of the Professor. "The ones we approached were more than happy to join."

"Excellent," Tenebrae said. "They will become great recruits once they come of age. The Dark Lord will be pleased."

James's eyes widened. Malfoy was recruiting students, no doubt Slytherins, to the Death Eaters, or at least Death Eaters in training. And Tenebrae was a Death Eater too. James pulled out his wand instinctively, despite the fact that neither of the people in the room had noticed him.

"What's happening in the real world? What's the Dark Lord's next step?" Malfoy asked Tenebrae.

"I'm afraid I cannot share that information with you Lucius, it is only for those the Dark Lord truly trusts." Tenebrae said, pride slipping into his voice. Malfoy physically deflated for a second, but quickly composed himself, and excused himself. James followed him out the door, just avoiding getting the back of his foot caught by the shutting door. He then turned away from the Slytherin and ran to Gryffindor tower. He pulled of the Cloak and stuffed it into his robe pocket while he told the Fat Lady the password. James then sprinted through the common room and up to his dorm where he found Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Frank. Frank and Peter were playing chess and Sirius and Remus were betting on them.

Sirius saw James enter. "Frank, leave." He said shortly. Frank looked up in indignation.

"Sirius," James said. "You can't just kick Frank out, it's his dorm too."

"But I thought you were gonna tell us about you know what." Sirius responded.

"I am, but we can't just kick Frank out everything we need to talk about something secretive" James said. "Frank, we're gonna be talking about something top secret, something you can't tell anyone about unless we tell you that you can, understand?"

Frank nodded, obviously wondering what was so important that he had to be sworn to secrecy. Once James was certain that his dorm mate wouldn't say anything, he told his tale, giving Frank some background information on why he was following Lucius, and leaving out the fact he had an Invisibility Cloak, saying instead that Fabian put a Disillusionment Charm on him.

When he finished his tale he waited for their responses. Remus was first to say something: "So you think Professor Tenebrae is a Death Eater?"

"It seems like it. We might have to keep watching him but-" James started before he was interrupted by Sirius.

"Are you kidding? He's definitely a Death Eater, what else would he be talking about the Dark Lord and sending Malfoy out to get students to join the Death Eaters?"

"Well he didn't specifically say to join the Death Eaters." Remus pointed out.

"It was implied." Sirius responded.

"It does sound like that." Frank agreed.

"Definitely," James said. "But there's only one issue with that, why would Dumbledore hire a Death Eater?"

Sirius thought for a moment. "It's possible he didn't know. Or maybe Tenebrae didn't become a Death Eater until after he was hired." Sirius said logically.

"Wait, if Tenebrae's a Death Eater, won't he try to hurt students who are against them?" Peter asked nervously.

"Nah." James said. "If he hurt students he would lose his job and it would make it clear he's a Death Eater. It wouldn't be worth it for him."

"The bigger issue is what his plan is. Whether he was a Death Eater before he was hired or he became one after doesn't matter. Why does Voldemort want someone inside of Hogwarts?" Frank asked.

"But guys, we don't even know if he actually is a Death Eater." Remus said. "Or maybe he's a spy for Dumbledore."

"Why would Dumbledore need a spy? It's not like we're at war." Sirius asked.

"Maybe not now, but from the way things are going that might be coming up." Remus responded darkly.

They were all quiet for a minute, each thinking of what their future would be like if the Wizarding World went to war. James was first to break the silence, "We don't know anything like that is going to happen for sure but we should definitely keep looking into it. Maybe I could owl my dad and he could look into it from the outside." he said.

"That would probably be the best thing to do." Remus said. "We can let the professionals deal with it, at least for now."

"But don't you guys want to be the ones to stop him?" Sirius asked. "I don't want to just sit around and 'let the professionals deal with it'."

James didn't say anything for a minute. "How about this," he started. "We can keep looking into it ourselves, but we keep my dad posted so he can look from the outside. Then, over break, we can compare what we've found and we might be able to prove that he is a Death Eater." Everyone seemed happy with the suggestion and the conversation ended. Frank left to go hang out with Alice and the Marauders were left alone.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Sirius asked once he was sure Frank was gone.

"Do what?" James asked though he knew what Sirius was talking about.

"Let Frank in on our conversation!" Sirius responded. "It was our secret stuff!"

"Sirius we can't just go and kick him out every time we need to talk. Plus his dad is an Auror." James said calmly.

"But-" Sirius started.

"No Sirius. And it's not like he's joining the Marauders, by he is our friend, our dorm mate, and our House mate. We have the same classes and see each other daily. Having some topics that we can talk about in front of him would make our lives a lot easier. I'm not saying we discuss Remus's secret with him, just some things like stuff about the Death Eaters." James finished and looked at his friends' reactions. "How about we take a vote" James suggested. They all nodded. "All in favor of allowing Frank to listen and be a part of some conversations that involve Marauder business, as long as it is agreed upon by us before hand say I."

"Aye."

"Aye."

"Aye."

"Aye. I guess." Sirius said.

"Great." James said. He then pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill and wrote down this new rule of theirs. He handed I around so each of them could sign it before putting it in his bedside table drawer. "There," he said. "Now we have that documented."

From that moment on Frank became one of the few people outside of the Marauders that was trusted enough to talk with them in at least one matter that they considered top secret. It was a great honor and privilege, and it made James and his friends want to help him even more when they saw Mr. Potter, a grim expression on his face, and a tearful Augusta Longbottom walk into the Entrance Hall the following morning, Dumbledore leading them to his office.

**A/N: Sorry it took so long but here's chapter 7. What do you guys think about me involving Frank in the story more? Like it? Hate it? Tell me by reviewing. Oh, and though there most likely won't be one next chapter, any prank ideas you have you can put into a review and I might use them (and give you credit of course). Thanks for reading!**


	8. Loss

**Note: This is the second chapter I posted today.**

Chapter 8. Loss

Harold Potter was standing in the Entrance Hall with Augusta Longbottom who was sobbing profusely. His face was grim and his eyes were red. Trevor Longbottom had been a great Auror, and a close friend. Elizabeth was here too, here eyes red as well. Harold wanted to go over and comfort her but felt it would be rude and extremely messed up to go over and hold his wife right in front of a woman who would no longer be able to do that with her own husband.

His thoughts were interrupted by Dumbledore coming in front of him.

"How is she?" He asked quietly.

Harold was a little confused that Dumbledore had to ask. If he spared a glance in Augusta's direction he would have seen that she is clearly not alright. He didn't say that, however. Instead he just responded, "Not well, but she will be in time. She's a strong woman. I think we should get Frank."

"I don't think we will need to do that." Dumbledore said, a slight, hardly noticeable smile appearing on his face for a second. Harold Potter was, once again confused, but that didn't last long as, not a moment later, five boys were in front of him.

"What's going on Dad?" the boy with unruly black hair and hazel eyes asked looking up at him.

"James, its Mr. Longbottom, he's-" Suddenly he was cut off by a particularly loud sob by Augusta. He looked over to see her crying and holding Frank who had a shocked expression on his face.

"How?" the boy asked. And Mr. Potter found himself explaining to Frank, in a daze, how Death Eaters had broken into his house, how his mother and father were given an ultimatum: join or die. He told everything Augusta had told him: the two fought off the Death Eaters, they stunned a couple which the Aurors had arrested, and then how more came, and his father was hit by a Killing Curse. They had no idea who it was; all they knew is that they got away.

Mr. Potter saw the boy's face change from sadness to anger, pure rage and determination seemed to create an aura around Frank Longbottom. A suit of armor exploded as a result of accidental magic. Mr. Potter felt Frank's pain, his want for vengeance. He said the only thing that he thought might make the child feel remotely better:

"We'll get him."

He didn't expect what came next though, in retrospect he should have. It's how he would feel if it were him in this situation and, despite the fact he shouldn't encourage this, Harold Potter knew that Frank needed this.

"He's mine."

**A/N: Really, really short chapter, I know. I probably should have attached this to the last one but I didn't think to until after I had put it up. Hope you liked it!**


	9. Quidditch and Quarrels

Chapter 9. Quidditch and Quarrels

James was outside Dumbledore's office along with Remus, Sirius, and Peter. They were waiting to see whether Frank would be staying at Hogwarts or not. James's father was up in the office too, and he saw this as the perfect opportunity to tell him about Tenebrae.

Suddenly, the gargoyle opened up to reveal Frank and Augusta Longbottom.

James walked over to them. "Excuse me." he said. The two looked up at him. "Will Frank be staying at Hogwarts?"

Augusta looked at him for a minute. "Your Harold's kid, right? James?"

He nodded. Augusta looked at him for another minute without answering. Just then, James's father walked out of the gargoyle and asked to talk with her. This left Frank with the Marauders.

"Frank-" Remus started.

"I'm staying at Hogwarts if that's what your wondering." Frank answered in a low, emotionless voice.

Remus was about to say something else but James held up his hand to stop him.

"We're here for you Frank, if you want to talk." James said quietly. He then signaled his friends to follow him, and walked away.

"James?"

James turned around to look at his grieving friend.

"Thanks."

James nodded before turning away from his friend and dorm mate and walking away, giving his friend time to mourn.

* * *

><p>Frank had left for a week to stay with his mother and gloom had fallen over those in the school that knew him. James and his friends were quieter than usual. Even though Frank wasn't their best friend he was their dorm mate, and the dorm felt sort of empty without him.<p>

Soon, however, the week was up and Frank returned. It was Sunday so everyone was in the common room, catching up on homework that they had insofar neglected. James was putting the finishing touches on his Transfiguration essay.

"And... Done!" He yelled triumphantly. He put on a particularly horrible victory dance in the form of a botched cabbages patch.

"Did you do the questions at the end of the chapter in the Charms book?" Remus asked.

"There- there were questions at the end of the chapter?" he asked, stopping his victory dance as the smile died on his face.

"Yep, Flitwick assigned them last class." Remus said.

"Damn it!" he yelled in exacerbation.

Remus, Sirius, and Peter all laughed at his expense and James pouted. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Remus's Charms book was open to the end of the chapter and his parchment held the answers to the questions. With a quick lunge, James snatched Remus's paper and ran back to where he was sitting.

"Hey!" Remus shouted. "Give me back my homework!"

"But I need to copy it!" James yelled back, using his feet to keep his friend at bay as he copied the answers.

"Done! Again!" James yelled triumphantly, throwing Remus his homework. "Thanks for the help Remmy."

Remus rolled his eyes. "You could at least ask before you take my homework, I'd probably give it to you anyway."

"But that takes the fun out of it." James responded as though it was obvious. Remus was about to respond when the portrait hole opened. In walked Frank and for a second everyone was quiet.

"Hey Frank!" James called to him, gesturing for the boy to come over. "We have notes for the classes you missed," James handed him the papers. "And you can copy my homework to catch up."

"Yeah, the answers are all right because Moony did them." Sirius added.

"No! I wrote the Transfiguration paper myself!" James responded indignantly.

"Sure you did." Sirius said sarcastically, obviously not believing him.

"Whatever guys, I'm just gonna go to the Library to study, I was just coming up to get my books." Frank said. "Thanks for taking notes." He added. Frank then walked up to their dorm, got his books, and left for the Library. James and his friends watched him go and James couldn't help but feel bad.

"Poor Frank." he said, more to himself than to his friend.

"He's still upset." Remus said knowingly.

"Of course he is, his dad died a week ago!" Sirius responded.

"He just needs time." James said.

But how much time, James didn't know. A week passed, then another, then another, yet Frank continued studying, nonstop. Even Remus and Lily, the two in their year that studied more than some Ravenclaws, realized that he was being unhealthy. Finally, a week after the Halloween Feast, James decided he had to talk to him.

He entered the Library and saw Frank pouring over a book. When James got closer he saw that it was a fourth year Defense book.

"Frank, why are you reading a fourth year Defense book?" James asked.

"Because I already finished the second and third year books." Frank replied not looking up.

"Frank what are you doing?" James asked.

"Studying." he responded, only half listening.

"Frank!" James called louder, trying to get his attention. "We're all worried about you. Your working too much." he said more quietly.

"James, I need to do this." Frank said.

"Why?" James asked. The moment he asked, he knew he shouldn't have.

"Why?" Frank said with an eerie calm. "Why?" he asked again anger becoming more apparent in his voice. "Why do you think? My dad was murdered! He had the life snuffed out of him by someone with a flick of his wand! These people took my father away from me and I want to make them pay! I want to take them down, every last one of them! I want them to burn in Hell and I want to be the one that put them there!" he yelled, tears beginning to form in his eyes. "These people need to realize they can't just go around killing people without consequences!" Frank then stormed out of the Library, leaving James in his dust, wondering how he could help his friend.

* * *

><p>Soon, however, Frank was driven from his mind as Dorcas started holding practices daily. The first match of the Quidditch season was fast approaching and, though the weather seemed to be getting colder by the day, Dorcas was keeping the team out longer and longer for more days of practice.<p>

"Honestly," James said as he fell onto a couch in the common room after a particularly long and tiring practice. "I don't know how Dorcas can expect us to be able to play when we're still sore from the last week of practices."

"She's building up your endurance." Remus said wisely.

"Well why don't you go spend hours a day exercising and then I can tell you how its all for your own good." James muttered annoyed.

"Well I would but, one, I have no interest in playing Quidditch, not that I could even if I wanted to, and two, I already get all the exercise I need. Having all the bones and muscles in your body growing to unnatural size before turning back is quiet enough for me." Remus responded calmly.

"Sorry" James said.

"It's fine." Remus assured him.

"Honestly, if it weren't for all of the pain and shunning from society it would be pretty cool. You have super hearing and are extremely strong without having to work for it like the rest of us." Sirius said.

"I'll admit there are some side effects I don't mind but they aren't worth contracting the disease." Remus responded.

"Damn his logic." Sirius muttered to James.

"I heard that." Remus said in a sing-song voice.

"Stupid werewolf hearing." Sirius said angrily.

The morning of the match James woke up a little earlier than usual. He got dressed and gathered his uniform and broom. Today was the day, the first match of the Quidditch season and Gryffindor would be playing against Slytherin. For the past week or so the rivalry between the Houses had escalated causing fights to break out. Dorcas had made them promise to stick to groups so they couldn't be targeted by the other team: the Slytherin team was known for trying to injure their opponents before matches so they couldn't play. However, none of the team members had gotten a scratch during the week and today was the big day. James was to excited and nervous to wait in the dorm any longer so he woke up the rest of the dorm and told them to hurry and get dressed. Within ten minutes James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were leaving the dorm.

"You coming to the match Frank?" James asked.

Frank shook his head. "No, I'm gonna sit this one out." He said.

Sirius looked like he was about to say something when Remus stopped him. "Okay," Remus said. "If you change your mind you can sit with us."

Frank nodded to them and they left, James leading the way. They went straight through the common room and down to the Great Hall. Once there, Sirius and Peter began to stuff their faces with food. Remus looked at them with a disgusted look on his face for a second before proceeding to put some food onto his plate. James, however, left his plate empty.

"What? No food Potter? Afraid you're gonna lose?" Avery sneered. Mulciber laughed alongside him.

"You know, I guess I should eat." James said in a mock thoughtful manner. He picked up a large pancake, and took a huge bite. He chewed it for a couple seconds before turning back to the Slytherins. He then spit the food all over Avery's face.

"Whoops, sorry. Your face is just so ugly that when I saw it I felt the need to throw up. My bad." James said with a smirk. Sirius, Max, and Annebeth (who were sitting next to them) all burst out laughing

"See you on the Pitch Potter." Avery said angrily.

"That was great James." Sirius said.

"Genius mate." Max added.

"Something tells me the Slytherins will want revenge though." Remus said warningly.

"Moony! Stop. Being. Logical!" Sirius shouted, hitting Remus with each word.

"Moony?" Annebeth asked.

Remus and Sirius looked nervous for a second but James said smoothly, "He's practically nocturnal; he can stay up all night and barely be tired, not to mention he goes to bed at ungodly hours."

"Yeah," Sirius said catching on. "If we go to our dorm at ten, he'll read until three before going to sleep."

Max and Annebeth laughed. Just then, Dorcas told them to go to the changing rooms.

"Wish me luck." James said, slightly nervously.

"Not that you'll need it." Sirius said encouragingly. James nodded before following Max and Annie to the changing rooms.

"You excited to play a real game?" Fabian asked James once he got into the changing rooms.

"Yeah," James answered. "It'll be nice not to have to spend hours practicing the Sloth Grip Hold."

Dorcas entered the room then; she adjusted her helmet and told the team to sit down.

"This is our first game of the season guys. I know we have some of the best players in the school on this team and I want you guys to show that to the rest of the school. We've practiced tirelessly and I have faith in you guys. Let's show them what the Gryffindor team is made of!" She finished her speech and they all cheered. James felt his stomach do a flip as he stood up with his broom over his shoulder and walked out onto the Pitch.

"And the Gryffindor team! Meadows, King, Johnson, Potter, Prewett, Prewett, and Bones!" Seventh year John Davies, the commentator for the game yelled through the magical microphone. James felt his stomach doing cartwheels at this point. Then he saw the Slytherin team was in front of them. James made eye contact with Avery and Mulciber, both of which were holding Beaters bats.

"Captains, shake." Madame Hooch said. Dorcas and Lucius, who was Captain of the Slytherin team, walked up and shook hands. Malfoy was trying to crush Dorcas's hand, but the girl showed no sign of pain. After a few seconds they let go. Lucius rubbed his hands off on his robes muttering something to his teammates that sounded like "filth".

"I want a nice fair game." Madame Hooch said. "Mount your brooms." James threw his leg over his broom and gripped tight.

The silver whistle blew and James kicked off the ground hard. He was the first Chaser to get the Quaffle and, after getting his hands on it, he flew up, over his competition.

"James!" Max yelled to him. James looked in his friend's direction, checking for opponents, before throwing the ball to him. Max easily caught it, and James zoomed after him, watching his back.

Suddenly, a bludger came flying towards him; he swerved to the right in order to avoid it, hearing the screech the ball made as it flew by. James felt a moment of relief before another bludger came flying at him. He quickly did a Sloth Grip, and the ball went over him, and surely would have hit them if he hadn't moved.

"And Gryffindor scores!" Davies said from the commentators stand. James looked to the Slytherin goalposts to see Max high-fiving Annebeth. The Slytherin Keeper threw the Quaffle to one of the Chasers, Lucius. James zoomed over to the Slytherin in an attempt to intercept the ball. Lucius made a grab for the Quaffle but fumbled it. James flew beneath him and grabbed it, before flying to the goalposts. He faked a throw left and took advantage of the Keeper's temporary distraction to throw it into the right goal.

"Gryffindor now with 20, Slytherin with none!" Davies yelled to the crowd.

The game proceeded. James and Max each scored their second goal and Annebeth made her first. Dorcas had made some truly incredible saves, the last one at the tips of her fingertips. The score was 50-10, Gryffindor in the lead.

James had the Quaffle again. Avery and Mulciber had kept their energies focused on hitting James all game, which had actually assisted in Max scoring. Two bludgers came flying James's way once again and he dove to avoid them. He flew down towards the ground, the bludgers close behind him. Then, right when he was about to crash, he pulled up from his dive. The bludgers had too much momentum to stop and crashed into the ground, getting stuck in the craters they created. James flew back up and passed to Annebeth who caught it and scored easily.

"Max!" James called, an idea having formed in his mind. The fourth year flew over to him. "The beaters are only aiming for me. I'll keep them busy so you and Annebeth can focus on scoring."

Max looked like he was about to tell him off when James said, "They're aiming for me anyway. We may as well make use of it."

Max sighed. "Okay."

"Great," James said. "Make sure to let Annebeth know." He added before flying away.

A couple minutes later, James was once again being trailed by a bludger. He saw Malfoy with the Quaffle and an idea struck him. He flew straight at the Slytherin Captain, the bludger following him. Right before making contact with his opponent, James pulled up, and the bludger hit Lucius in the gut. The Slytherin dropped the Quaffle but, before James could get it, John Davies yelled, "And Edgar Bones has caught the Snitch! Gryffindor wins 210-10!"

James cheered along with the majority of the stands. He flew a victory lap with Max and Annebeth before landing in front of the changing rooms.

"Great game guys!" Dorcas congratulated.

"I know; I am familiar with the awesomeness with which I played." James said with a smirk. Dorcas rolled her eyes. "Though I have to thank you Captain, even though I didn't enjoy the hours of practicing the Sloth Grip, I can't say it didn't help me out."

"Told you so." She said smugly. "Though now that you mention it, I noticed the Beaters were going after you. Do you know why?"

"It might have something to do with the fact that James spit food all over them before the match." Max said, smirking.

Dorcas's eyes widened. "You did not."

"As a matter of fact, yes, yes I did." James replied, unable to hold back his growing smile.

Dorcas had an expression half of amusement and half disapproval. She looked as if she was about to scold him when Annebeth chimed in, "Don't worry Captain, they totally deserved it."

The captain still looked slightly disapproving but the conversation was abruptly interrupted by Fabian and Gideon.

"Come on guys, we've got a party to go to." They said at the same time with identical smirks.

James finished changing before he and the rest of the team jogged up to the common room. Sirius, Remus, and Peter had gotten food and drinks from the Kitchens and some of Dorcas's friends had put up banners. James quickly found his friends among the crowd.

"Great playing James." Remus congratulated.

"Yeah dude, you were awesome." Sirius added. Peter nodded his head in agreement.

James brushed away their complements. "How'd you guys manage to get all this stuff so quickly?" he asked.

"We had the house-elves prepare it this morning." Sirius said.

James was confused for a second. "This morning? How'd you know we were going to win?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Of course you guys were going to win. Not only are you all really good but everyone on the Slytherin team had to buy their way on."

Remus nodded. "You saw Lucius, he fumbled the ball almost every time it was thrown to him and he's Captain."

James had to agree with them, but before they could continue their conversation, James was pulled around the common room, congratulated and asked questions for a while. It was a relief when he managed to get out of the crowd.

"Hey." A girl's voice said. James turned around to see Lily right next to him.

"Hi." James said, running his hand through his hair nervously.

"You did really well out there." She said.

"Thanks. I assume you know this because you couldn't take your eyes of my amazing good looks." James said. Lily rolled her eyes.

"In your dreams Potter." Lily responded.

"How'd you know?" James asked in mock surprise. Lily laughed.

"See you around Potter." She said, beginning to walk away. "Enjoy your party."

"I won't as much without you next to me." James said to her before she was swallowed by the crowd. James continued to walk around the common room, not listening to anyone that spoke to him and unable to wipe the smile off his face. Winning the game had nothing on speaking to Lily without her hexing and/or hitting him.

**A/N: Sorry for the delay but, as you can see, it is a long chapter. I hope you liked it. I'll try to update soon. Please review.**


	10. TMPW 72: The Beginning

Chapter 10. The Marauder Prank War of 1972: The Beginning

James couldn't remember what started it, but it was probably something stupid. Remus remembered it starting as a fight over who was the "leader" of the Marauders. James thought it had something to do with who was smarter. Sirius swore James had argued that he was better looking. Whatever the cause, it had started, and it began a time period Hogwarts will never forget, despite the fact that no one outside the group had any idea what was happening: The Marauder Prank War of 1972.

* * *

><p>James was walking through the hallway. He had just finished Quidditch practice and he was already feeling sore. He stretched as he walked and turned the corner, going in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. His argument with Sirius over Merlin knows what before he left was the last thing on his mind. That's probably why he wasn't prepared for the water that poured onto him as he walked into the common room.<p>

James spluttered for a second. When he opened his eyes he saw Sirius roaring with laughter in front of him. Some of the other Gryffindors were laughing too but James didn't care.

Getting an evil idea James said, "Thanks Sirius, I needed a cool down after practice." And then, before his friend could respond, James went and hugged him, getting the front of Sirius's shirt soaked with water.

"Dammit!" Sirius yelled pushing James away from him. James was now the one laughing.

"You have to admit that was good." James said smiling.

"Yeah, ha ha, I'm laughing so hard. Sirius said sarcastically as they walked up to their dorm.

"What was that for anyway?" James asked his friend as they entered the dorm.

"For when you insulted my honor before." Sirius said dramatically. "And so in response, I have challenged you to a prank war."

"You didn't challenge me! You just attacked me!" James replied.

"I drew first blood." Sirius shot back.

"Drew first blood in what?" Remus asked.

"According to Sirius he's challenged me to a prank war." James said.

"Then maybe we should set up some rules." Remus suggested.

"Aw! Moony! Why do we need rules!" Sirius whined.

"Because I'd prefer it if you didn't kill each other." Remus responded. "Stop pouting, they won't be strict."

Remus pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill. He wrote up what would become the Marauders' equivalent of an honorable duel. Any future disputes would be settled by a prank war. The document looked like this:

_The Marauders Guide To Inter-group Prank Wars_

_From this point onward, disputes between two or more Marauders are to be settled via a Prank War. This honorable battle will resolve the issue and remind those involved of the bond between Marauders. The rules of the Prank War are as follows:_

_1. Alliances may be made with anyone in or out of the Marauders._

_2. Pranks can be humiliating, but not too humiliating._

_3. The prank war can be as long or short as necessary to solve the problem._

_4. The prank war ends either when one side surrenders, when both sides decide on a draw, or when a deal is reached between the participants._

"You see," Remus said, showing them the document. "Nothing too bad."

"I'm good with it." James said with a shrug.

"Fine." Sirius acquiesced.

"Okay then," Remus said, putting the paper with the other Official Marauder Documents. "Good luck to you both."

* * *

><p>The next morning, James wasn't thinking about the prank war. That probably was why he didn't notice the trip wire in the doorway.<p>

James tumbled down the stairs, his glasses falling off and his robes coming over his head. He crashed down onto the common room floor. James was disheveled and disoriented for a minute before he managed to stand up. He pointed his wand at his glasses and repaired the broken lens.

Sirius popped up in front of him. "Simple yet efficient my apprentice," he said. "If you noticed I put a Cushioning Charm on the stairs do you wouldn't break your neck."

"How thoughtful." James said sarcastically.

"I know." Sirius responded with a smile. He then walked away leaving James sitting on the floor. James stood up quickly and ran back up to the dorm, careful to step over the trip wire on his way in. He opened his trunk and pulled out some supplies. Just as he was putting the stuff into his bag he noticed that Remus was in the room too.

James pulled his wand out and pointed it at his friend. "You must swear to secrecy." He said.

Remus held up his hands. "I swear."

James nodded and walked towards the stairs leading to the common room. "Watch the trip wire." He told Remus before he went down the stairs, through the common room, and down towards the Great Hall. Once he got there he spotted Sirius sitting at the Gryffindor table. James was about to go over to him when he remembered the prank war. He decided to instead sit with Fabian and Gideon.

"Hey guys." He said as he sat down across from the twins.

"Hey James." They said together.

"So James," Fabian started. "We heard about you and Sirius's prank war."

"Yeah," Gideon said fondly. "It's nice to see the new generation of pranksters continuing the tradition."

James thought quickly. "You know, we're allowed to make alliances. Care to join me in defeating Sirius?"

The twins shook their heads. "'Fraid not James, we're gonna sit this one out." Gideon said.

"Yeah," Fabian said. "We'll let you guys show off your skills and stay out of it."

"We'll be spectators," Gideon added. "I hope it'll be a good match."

"Don't worry, something tells me this is gonna be huge." James told them, excitement bubbling up inside of him.

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry I couldn't get this up over the weekend, between studying for finals, doing homework, and seeing Starkid at Apocalyptour (Totally Awesome!) I didn't finish writing the chapter. The prank war is probably gonna be the next couple chapters so review and give me any ideas you have for pranks in reviews (or messages). If I use them I'll give you credit. PS, For those of you who couldn't figure it out TMPW 72 is short for The Marauder Prank War of 1972**


	11. TMPW 72:Allies and Advances

Chapter 11. The Marauder Prank War of 1972: Allies and Advances

After breakfast James went to class. He walked with his friends but Remus kept Sirius and James apart. Their first class was Transfiguration and James knew that McGonagall would not be happy with any pranks in her class. James decided to avoid a prank if possible but he knew that he would take an opportunity if he saw one.

The Maruaders sat down in the Transfiguration room. Today they were turning rabbits into slippers. James's rabbit had calico fur. He pointed the and said the spell, "_Crepida!_" Suddenly his rabbit began to morph. It squeaked before it was transformed into a pair of fuzzy slippers.

"Excellent job Mr. Potter, and on your first try too." Professor McGonagall said impressed. "Ten points to Gryffindor."

James smiled proudly. He looked around the room to see that no one had gotten it yet. Lily had a look of intense concentration on her face. Sirius looked bored and was lazily pointing his wand at his snow white rabbit. James saw his opportunity. As his friend went to jab his wand at the rabbit in front of him, James pointed his wand at Sirius's rabbit and whispered, "_Iracundus!_"

Suddenly the rabbit's eyes turned bright red and it barred its teeth. It then jumped at Sirius with its claws out.

"AAAAHHHHH!" Sirius yelled out in pain as the rabbit bit and scratched at his face, neck, and hands. McGonagall came over and Vanished the rabbit.

"Mr. Black, write a foot long essay on what you did wrong and how you can correct it in the future." McGonagall said.

The rest of the class period went off without a hitch. Lily got performed the spell correctly and, eventually, the majority of the class Transfigured their rabbits correctly, though some slippers hopped around the room. Sirius refused to take another bunny so he got a detention. Everyone who didn't do the spell correctly had to write a foot long essay for the next class on what they did incorrectly.

Their next class was potions and as the second year Gryffindors and Slytherins walked in Professor Slughorn was bottling potions.

"Want some help Professor?" Lily asked Slughorn.

"Sure, why not?" He said. Lily walked over to help him and James, out of impulse, went with her.

"What potions do you have here professor?" James asked curiously.

"Well that one over there is Polyjuice Potion," Professor Slughorn said, pointing to the thick mud-like potion that was bubbling slowly. "That one is a Sleeping Draught, and the one on the far left is a Forgetfulness Potion."

James's mind worked quickly, thinking of everything he could do with a bottle of these potions. As he and Lily filled bottles and corked them, James slipped a bottle of each potion into his robe pockets. Slowly the rest of the class arrived and within a couple minutes they had finished the task.

"Thank you, the both of you. 10 points to Gryffindor, each!" Slughorn yelled happily.

Lily and James sat at their respective tables, Lily with Snape, much to James's unhappiness, and James with Remus.

Today they were brewing a Swelling Solution and James and Remus were doing pretty well. Their potion was a slightly runnier than it was supposed to be but that thought didn't matter to him for much longer. As he was stirring the potion counterclockwise something flew from a couple tables down and landed directly in the potion.

"GET DOWN!" James yelled, but it was too late. The Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Firework exploded and their Swelling Solution splashed everywhere, causing people within a couple yard radius to swell all over. James's hands were huge but his face was fine. Remus wasn't sp lucky; he had gotten a face full of the potion and his head was twice its normal size.

"Calm down, clam down, come over here and take some Deflating Draught." Professor Slughorn said. One by one students walked up to the front desk to get deflated. James saw Sirius laughing towards the back of the room.

After everyone had been deflated the bell rang and class ended.

"What did you think?" Sirius asked on their way to Lunch.

"Pretty good," James said. "Though once I've won the Prank War, I have a few ideas that involve something similar."

They all sat down. Sirius turned to Fabian and Gideon and started telling them about his prank and Remus turned to James.

"James?" He asked.

"Yeah?" James asked, turning to his friend.

"I propose an Alliance; you and me against Sirius." Remus said quietly.

"Definitely." James responded, holding out his hand. Remus shook it and the Lupin-Potter Alliance was formed.

* * *

><p>James walked into the Library and saw Remus, sitting down studying. They had agreed this would be their meeting place as Sirius would never be caught dead in the Library, and they didn't want him knowing about their alliance.<p>

"So what's the plan?" Remus asked putting his book down the moment he saw James.

"I've got some Sleeping Draught and some Polyjuice Potion from Slughorn this morning, and I have the perfect prank in mind." James said with a mischievous glint in his eye. "But we'll need some cake."

* * *

><p>"Hey Sirius," Remus said, walking up to his friend at the end of the Gryffindor table.<p>

"Hi Remus." Sirius responded, covering up the parchment he had previously been writing on.

"What's that?" Remus asked curiously.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out." Sirius said. "Though you can find out sooner if you make an alliance with me." He added.

Remus shook his head. "I'm sitting out on this one out." He lied easily; it's not like he hadn't said this before.

Sirius shrugged. "Suit yourself." He looked back at his parchment. Remus coughed twice and Sirius looked up, not knowing it was James's signal to put the cakes on the table. To keep Sirius's attention Remus continued to cough. While Sirius patted Remus's back, James, from under the Invisibility Cloak, pulled out two cupcakes, one with sprinkles, one without, and placed them on the table.

Remus stopped coughing. "I'm fine, I'm fine." He said, waving off Sirius's concerns. Remus pretended to be surprised as he pointed to the plate that had appeared in front of them. He pointed it out to Sirius who happily said, "Cupcakes!"

Just as Remus and James had planned for Sirius grabbed the cupcake with the sprinkles. He ate it up quickly, practically stuffing the whole thing in his mouth. He chewed on it for a minute and then swallowed, licking his lips. Then, suddenly, his eyes began to droop and his body fell over, his head hanging off the bench. James quickly covered him in the Invisibility Cloak and they left the Great Hall, leaving the room completely empty.

Remus and James levitated the invisible Sirius, with much difficulty, to their dorm. Once they arrived they closed the door, placed Sirius on his bed, and took off the Invisibility Cloak.

"How long will the Sleeping Draught keep him out for?" James asked.

"Around twenty four hours. If everything goes correctly he'll think he had just closed his eyes." Remus said with a smirk.

"Excellent." James said, a smirk forming on his face too.

* * *

><p>"You sure he'll stay out?" James asked Remus once Peter had left for breakfast. They had put on a show of James being sick so Peter wouldn't be suspicious.<p>

"Of course he will." Remus said reassuringly. "You've got his hairs, right?"

James held up a good sized chunk of Sirius's hair. "Good." Remus said. "Here's the potion. It's enough to keep you looking like Sirius for twelve hours." He added.

"Perfect." James said. He took the glass and dropped Sirius's hair into it. The potion suddenly changed to a bright scarlet. James chuckled, "Even his Polyjuice Potion screams Gryffindor." He said before downing the glass. For a second, nothing happened, then all of the sudden James's skin started to bubble his hair lengthened and fell to his shoulder and he grew a little, his eyes turned form their usual golden hazel to silver. Within a minute he looked exactly like Sirius Black.

"Hand me some of his robes," James said in Sirius's voice. "Mine are a little short."

Remus threw him a pair and James redressed quickly. He then went to his friend's bedside table and took his wand.

"Let's go." James said. They quickly left the dorm and went to the Great Hall.

Once they arrived, James walked past the Gryffindor table and up towards the Head Table. He then sat down in Professor McGonagall's chair and began to eat as if this was completely normal. Surprisingly enough, none of the teachers said anything. Dumbledore looked mildly surprised but turned his attention back to his food.

When McGonagall entered the Great Hall it only took her a second to realize that something was amiss. She strode up to her chair, her eyes narrowing.

"Mr. Black, pray tell me why you are in my seat." She asked sternly.

James looked back up at her with a smile. "This is your seat Professor? I don't see your name on it." He said innocently.

"Mr. Black, get up this instant!" McGonagall demanded, an aura of anger becoming more and more apparent.

James had half a mind to get up right then and there, but then he remembered he wasn't James Potter, he was Sirius Black and, without responding, he just took another swig out of McGonagall's goblet.

"For every minute longer you stay in my seat, you will have a night's detention." McGonagall said, her anger reaching the boiling point. James stayed seated though, continuing to eat the eggs and bacon on his plate as if Professor McGonagall wasn't there. Once he finished his plate he took the napkin in front of him, cleaned up his mouth, stood up, and walked away from the Head Table.

"Two weeks detention Mr. Black!" She yelled after him. James had to hold in his laughter as he walked out of the Great Hall. He wandered the school before ending up in front of Professor Tenebrae's office. He unlocked the door and walked inside.

It was the same as it had been when James overheard Tenebrae and Lucius making plans, dark, sinister looking, and disturbing. The Dark objects that lined the shelves radiated power and James wanted to get out as fast as he could. He went through the door at the back of the room that led to Tenebrae's room. James then pulled out Sirius's wand and waved it at the four walls, the ceiling, and the floor, muttering the spell. Suddenly the entire room burst with color. The walls turned red and gold and lions appeared on the ceiling and floor. With another wave of his friend's wand the lions roared. James smirked to himself then waited in the room for a few more minutes. Once the bell rang James waited a couple minutes before exiting the office, making sure to be seen by Professor Tenebrae as he left. He heard the Professor's yell of "Hey!" and knew he had been seen.

"Yes Professor?" he asked politely.

"What were you doing in my office?" The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher asked.

"Just redecorating," James said with a shrug before walking away from the Professor who ran into his office to see what had happened. The loud roar from the lions let James know that his work had been seen, just in case the yell of, "Sirius Black! A month of detention!"

He ran to the class he was supposed to be in: Charms. He was already ten minutes late so after he was sure he was out of Tenebrae's reach, he took his time getting to class. When he finally arrived he was fifteen minutes late. He opened the door and yelled, "Don't worry, I'm here, the party can now begin!"

Professor Flitlwick looked mildly shocked for a second before saying, "Mr. Black, please take a seat and stop disrupting my class."

"Ah, stuff it Short Stuff." James said.

"Excuse me?" Flitwick asked, anger beginning to become apparent in his voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry; it must be hard for you to hear me from so far below." James apologized.

"Detention!" Flitwick said. "Tonight at eight!"

"Gonna have to get in line mate, I'm backed up for a month and a half." James said, trying hard to keep himself from laughing.

"I'm sure we can work something out." Flitwick said. "Now as I was saying…"

James tuned out and continued to make loud noises throughout the class, being as obnoxious as possible. By the end of the class James had gotten Sirius another detention.

"Dude, you're good." Remus said. "Flitwick never gives out detention." Remus said, impressed.

"It's a gift." James said with a smirk.

* * *

><p>Sirius opened, his eyes, feeling groggy. He lifted his head out of his arms slowly thinking, <em>How long was I out?<em> He checked his wrist watch and saw that it was seven. _Good,_ he thought. _I was only out for a few minutes_.

Sirius sat up and grabbed his parchment. He then started walking up to the common room, remembering he had to do his homework as Remus, in refusing to take a side, had stopped helping them with both he and James's homework. Just as was about to leave the Great Hall, someone called to him. He turned around and saw Professor McGonagall.

"Mr. Black, I believe we have an appointment?"

**A/N: Here's chapter 11, I'm really sorry it's so late, I had major writers block, but its here. The prank idea in which Sirius is knocked out for a day was given to me by Marauders-Fred and George XD. Hope you enjoyed it. Review please!**


	12. TMPW 72: Duel and Draw

Chapter 12. The Marauder Prank War of 1972: Duel and Draw

Since James and Remus had pranked Sirius the pranks between the two groups had become more frequent. Sirius, in retaliation, put itching powder in all of James's underwear (he was still unaware of Remus and James's alliance). James responded by making all of Sirius's robes Slytherin colors. For the next week they fired pranks back and forth, Remus's involvement staying a secret the whole while, which was just how they wanted it. By Saturday, a week and a half since the beginning of the prank war, James thought it was time to make Remus's part come out into the open.

* * *

><p>"Hey Sirius," Remus said, sitting down next to his friend. "Watch'ya doing?"<p>

"Homework." Sirius said disgustedly as if the thought of what he was doing made him sick.

"Want help?" Remus asked.

"Definitely," Sirius said. Remus took the paper from him and began editing his essay, adding and taking away different information.

"There, now copy this down and you'll be fine." Remus said.

"You're the best Moony." Sirius responded, copying it down quickly. A couple minutes later he finished.

"Done," he said happily.

"Here," Remus said, grabbing the parchment from his friend and pulling out his wand. He muttered a spell and handed it back to Sirius. "A drying spell so the ink doesn't smudge." Remus explained at his friend's quizzical look.

"Thanks again mate." Sirius said.

"No problem."

* * *

><p>The next day, in Transfiguration, James passed his homework up as did the rest of the class. McGonagall grabbed all of the papers she flipped through them as she walked to her desk to make sure everybody did the assignment.<p>

"Mr. Black, why did you hand in a blank paper?" McGonagall asked.

"Blank?" Sirius asked confused, he got up from his seat and ran up to the teacher. James bit back a laugh. "But-but I did that last night!"

James turned to Remus and high-fived him. Sirius spent the next few minutes trying to convince Professor McGonagall that he really did do his homework but it just resulted in another detention for him and five points from Gryffindor. James easily earned these back by being the first to Transfigure his turtle into a teapot.

The rest of the day was pretty low on pranks, though now Sirius knew of Remus's "betrayal". For this he charmed all of Remus's books to scream at him whenever opened so that he couldn't read.

Sirius also took measures to get his own alliance. He bribed Peter with sweets in exchange for an alliance, which Peter accepted eagerly.

And again both sides continued to attack. Sirius and Peter were less calculated which resulted in people other than their targets becoming victims of their pranks. James and Remus's pranks were more elaborate and used more advanced spells. Another week passed but neither side wanted to back down, despite the pranks becoming more and more humiliating (like when Sirius turned all of James and Remus's clothes to girls dress robes or when Sirius and Peter's underwear were hanging from the candles in the Great Hall).

The stalemate continued for yet another week as December began. The snow that had been building since November was at an all time high and both sides wanted to call for a ceasefire so they could have a snowball fight. However, despite this, neither side would back down as to do so would show weakness. Both sides were looking for an excuse to end the war at this point, and one appeared on December 7, 1972.

The day was cold. The snow covered the grounds of Hogwarts like a blanket and the sun shone weakly in the gray-blue sky. It was a Saturday and James and Remus were walking from the Library, talking about their next prank idea. This is when they ran into five people who they'd rather not see.

"Well, look who it is, Potty and Shabby." Avery taunted. Mulciber and Nott laughed rather stupidly.

"Oh, I'm gonna need to go to Madame Pomfrey for that burn." James said sarcastically. Remus chuckled slightly. "So do you gentlemen want to let us pass or…" He let the sentence hang in the air.

"No," Severus Snape said, speaking for the first time and stepping in front of his cronies. "I think we'll stay right here." The Slytherin added, pulling out his wand. "In fact, I think this is the perfect opportunity to show some people that there are consequences for their actions."

"What actions? Beating your house at Quidditch?" James asked. He couldn't recall any pranks he had played on the Slytherins within the last month.

"No, nothing having to do with your precious sport," Snape said. "Some people just need to learn respect, you and your friends especially."

"Respect is earned Snivelly." James responded. "And do you think Lily would be very happy if she found out you were cornering Remus and I when we have done nothing to you for a good amount of time?"

A look of uncertainty flashed onto Snape's face, but it was gone in a second and James was unsure of whether or not he imagined it. "Lily will be more inclined to believe me over you Potter."

James shrugged. "If you say so."

"You don't know her the way I do so stop speaking of things you don't understand." Snape growled, taking a couple of steps closer to James. There was only about a foot separating them and James sensed that the fight was going to start any second.

"So, five on two?" James said as if he was just making conversation.

Snape's lip curled into a smirk. "Scared Potter?"

"You wish." James responded. "I guess this will make your defeat even more humiliating."

With a slash of his wand the Body-Bind Curse shot at James who jumped out of the way. The other four Slytherins all shot their own spells which Remus and James blocked with Shield Charms. The Slytherins continued shooting spell after spell at the two Gryffindors, keeping them on the defensive. Remus did manage to Stun Regulus but he was revived by Nott. One spell, performed by Mulciber, missed James's face by an inch and hit a suit of armor behind him, resulting in a loud _Bang!_

"Oy!" A voice yelled from behind them. The seven wizards stopped fighting for a second to look in the direction of the yell which had come from a boy with shaggy black hair and stormy gray eyes. "Why'd you start without me?" he asked before shooting a Jelly-Leg Jinx at Mulciber and running to join in the fight. He was quickly followed by Peter who caught Nott with a Bat-Bogey Hex. James and Remus, with newfound strength, began to send their own spells at their attackers. Soon the group of Slytherins was on the defensive and the Marauders, one by one, managed to take out every on of the Slytherins until only Snape was left.

"_Expelliarmus!_" James yelled. "_Everte Statum__!_"

"_Rectusempra!_" Snape cried hitting James with the spell right as both of James's spells hit home.

"What is going on here?" Someone yelled. Everyone who had the ability to looked in the direction of the asker who was none other than Lily Evans.

_Of course_ James thought _She always has the worse timing._

"Well?" She asked. _As if she needed to._ James thought to himself. A look at the surroundings showed four Slytherins in varying degrees of pain or discomfort, one who was on his knees looking up at the girl, his eyes wide, and four Gryffindors, all of which having some bruise or cut and one of which, James, who was attempting to fight the intense tickling sensation that was attacking his stomach area.

Lily made a frustrated noise before turning on her heal and storming off. James tried to go after her but the spell kept him from getting up.

Remus walked over to him. "_Finite._" He said causing the spell to stop working.

"Thanks." James said.

"Any time." Remus responded. James then walked over to Peter and Sirius and helped them up.

"Thanks guy," James said.

"No problem." Sirius replied. Peter nodded in agreement.

They all walked in the direction of the common room when James had an idea. "You guys wanna head down to the Kitchens for something to eat?" he asked. They all nodded and changed their course. Soon they were in front of the painting of the fruit bowl and walking into the Kitchens.

"Master Potter! Master Black! Master Lupin! Master Pettigrew! It's been so long!" One of the house-elves, Blinky, said happily. Other house-elves started walking up to them, holding out the choice desserts of each Marauder.

For a little while they ate in silence. Eventually James decided to speak up. "You know," he started. "I think the Slytherins have forgotten not to mess with us. I think we show them the error of their ways, wouldn't you agree Sirius?"

Sirius smiled wide. "I couldn't agree more."

And just like that The Marauder Prank War of 1972 ended, both sides having come to the conclusion that it would be better to use their pranking prowess against their true enemies rather than against each other.

**A/N: Here's chapter 12. I hope you liked it. The making Sirius's homework invisible was inspired by InventorOfFirebolt (thanks!) I'll try to get the next chapter up soon though reviews make me write faster *cough cough nudge nudge***


	13. Ambushes

Chapter 13. Ambushes

James rolled out of the way of the projectile and behind the broom shed. He had just finished Quidditch practice when he was suddenly pelted with snowballs by his three best friends, all of whom were dressed much more warmly than he was. Shivering slightly from the cold and the lack of insulation of his Quidditch uniform, he pulled out his wand and flicked it at the snow, creating a pile of perfect snowballs.

_I really should've seen this coming_, James thought to himself. _They've done the same thing everyday this week_. He heard Sirius's yell of, "He's behind the shed!", and knew he had to think fast it he didn't want a repeat of Monday. James shook the thought away and eyed his broom. Climbing onto it he hovered over the ground, still hidden behind the broom shed. With a flick of his wand, the snowballs hovered at his side, ready and waiting to be shot at James's attackers.

Sirius appeared on one side of James having gone around the left side of the shed, and Peter and Remus, as James had expected, came around the right side of the shed. James flew up into the air until he felt he was far enough up. Then he pointed his wand at Sirius and flicked causing half of his snowballs to rain down on his friend at alarming speed. He repeated the action on his other friends then zoomed past them, over the broom shed, and towards the Entrance Hall. He then landed, surprising a couple of Ravenclaws who were immersed in different books.

He sat down at a bench, waiting for his friends. They came a couple minutes later, looking slightly upset at having been defeated so easily.

"What took you so long?" James asked with a smirk.

"Oh don't be too happy," Sirius said. "It took you a week to actually get us back."

"Well maybe if you hadn't done the same ambush plan every time, I might not have beaten you so badly." James shot back, his smirk growing.

"Told you so." Remus said glumly. James just laughed.

"Come on," he said when he was finished. "Lunch is probably out now. We can get some hot chocolate to warm us up."

They all went into the castle though they felt no difference in temperature in the hallways. In fact, it may have been colder inside the castle than it was outside.

"Would it kill them to put a few fire places in every hallway?" Sirius asked annoyed.

"Well it isn't really necessary, everyone has warm cloaks and most students know how to perform heating charms." Remus said.

James smacked his own forehead. "I'm so stupid!" he exclaimed.

"You said it, not me." Sirius said with a smile.

"Not that you prat," James said, waving away his friend's insult. "I know how to do a heating charm; we all do!"

Comprehension flashed onto Sirius's face. "Bloody hell." He said, surprised none of them had thought of that.

Remus hit Sirius on the arm. "Language," he scolded. "You already have detentions until late January, do you really need more?"

"And whose fault is that?" Sirius asked, looking at Remus and James significantly. They said nothing for a second, but then they burst out laughing.

"Oh ha freaking ha," Sirius said sarcastically. "Very funny, and how many detentions do you two have?"

Remus thought for a second. "Actually, we served our last one yesterday." Sirius's face turned reddish in anger and he began spluttering a little, "But how, I, you." This caused James to laugh even harder, so hard that he had to hold onto the wall for support, and wipe the tears away from his eyes. He pointed at Sirius's face and could only choke out, "Y-your face," before succumbing to the laughter. Remus and Peter laughed at Sirius's expression as well, causing his face to turn redder. Unfortunately for Sirius, this only caused them to laugh harder and louder, and their fits of laughter lasted for a few more minutes. People who passed them in the halls looked at them as if they were insane, and Sirius walked away from them so as not to be associated with his insane friends.

Once they had recovered from their laugh attack they entered the Great Hall and sat down next to Sirius. "That was great," James said with a wide smile, wiping away the tears in his eyes. "I wish I had a picture of that."

"Well now I know what to get you for Christmas." Sirius said sarcastically causing them all to laugh some more.

* * *

><p>December wore on, and Christmas grew closer. Throughout the school, the holiday spirit was spreading, from the decorations in the Great Hall and common rooms to Peeves going inside the suits of armor and singing crude versions of Christmas carols. Even the Slytherins were in the holiday spirit, dressed like elves, with green robes, red belts, green hats, and pointy ears, courtesy of the Marauders.<p>

"So are you guys coming over to mine for the holidays?" James asked his friends a week before the holidays during Charms.

Remus shook his head bitterly saying, "Full moon." Peter said that his family was visiting his older brother in Spain. James looked to Sirius who shook his head, sadness evident on his face. "I can't," he said. "My parents are making me go to their Christmas party."

"Why?" James asked. "I thought they hate it when you come to their Christmas party. You know being a blood traitor and all."

Sirius shrugged. "Maybe torturing me is more important to them than their party being a success."

"Oh." James said disappointed. He tried not to show it though. By the sound of it they were all in for worse holidays than he was. Remus would spend it tearing himself up and then recovering, Peter would spend the vacation being told that he wasn't as good as his siblings were and that he needs to step up his game, and Sirius would spend his being both verbally and perhaps physically abused. "We can still write," he added awkwardly.

"Yeah." Sirius said.

"Definitely." Peter said.

"Sure." Remus said.

"Cool." James responded though he couldn't help but think that this holiday was definitely not going to be as fun as he had originally hoped.

* * *

><p>The Marauders boarded the Hogwarts Express, laughing and joking, pretending as if they weren't sad they weren't spending holiday together. They grabbed a compartment and James pulled out his chess set and a pack of Exploding-Snap cards.<p>

"Who wants to play what?" James asked.

Sirius and Remus claimed the chess set while James and Peter played a few rounds of Exploding Snap three of which James won. The two then stopped to watch their friend's chess match.

"Why don't you just give up Sirius, you only have three pawns?" James asked.

"And a King." Sirius retorted.

"Yeah, but you need the king to play." James said.

"Whatever." Sirius responded, staring at the board, as though waiting for it to reveal a way for him to win.

"Bishop to f3." Remus said, causing the piece to slide to the spot.

Sirius thought for a second. "Pawn to a5." The pawn hopped to the spot.

Remus smiled triumphantly. "Queen to b7, Check Mate." Sirius's King threw his crown at the feet of Remus's Queen.

"Yes!" James exclaimed. "Cough it up Peter." Peter dropped a galleon into James's hand.

Sirius frowned. "You bet I was going to lose?" He asked.

James nodded. "Yup." He said, popping the "p". "And I was right to do so."

Sirius grumbled a little and Remus smiled. "Now gents, if you will excuse me I'm going to go see Evans."

Sirius's grumbles stopped and he turned to Remus and Peter with a smirk, holding out his hand.

"Fine, here you go." Remus begrudgingly said, handing a few sickles to Sirius. Peter did the same.

James looked confused for a second before realization dawned on him. "Wow, you guys bet on me going to see Evans. Really?"

They all nodded. "I had after the trolley came." Peter said sadly.

Remus smiled slightly. "I thought you might see sense and not visit her at all."

Sirius pocketed his money, still smiling. "I said you would go within the first two hours. And I was right!"

James shook his head at his friends before exiting their compartment. He decided to go up towards the front of the train and began to look into each compartment for a mane of red hair.

About halfway up the train he ran into Dorcas Meadows.

"Hullo Captain." James said, saluting to her.

Dorcas laughed. "Hi James."

"Have you seen the wonderful Lily Evans around here?" He asked.

"Have you come to bother the poor girl already?" She asked, shaking her head.

"Come on, I just want to talk to her." He asked. "Please Captain."

Dorcas rolled her eyes at the second year. "She's a couple compartments up, but you didn't here it from me."

"Thanks Captain." James said, saluting her again. He saw her roll her eyes before he ran down the aisle, passing a few more compartments on his way to his destination. He stopped in front of the compartment and took a deep breath before knocking on the door and sliding it open.

"What do you want Potter?" A harsh voice asked. James heard the sighs of Alice Dearborn and Marlene McKinnon.

"I just want to talk Lily." James said softly.

"Go to hell." She responded.

James's face turned to a scowl. "Fine." He said angrily, slamming the compartment door shut behind him.

* * *

><p>"So how'd it go?" Sirius asked when James reentered the compartment. James just moaned in response, sitting and hitting his head on the wall repeatedly.<p>

"That bad?" Remus asked sympathetically.

James moaned again before turning to look at his friends. He saw Peter and Sirius giving Remus a galleon each.

"Really guys? You're betting on my suffering?" James asked.

"If it's any consolation I was betting that you would chicken out and not talk to her at all." Sirius said with a shrug.

"You all suck." James responded.

"What did I do?" Peter asked. "I bet that it would go well!"

James shook his head. "You still bet. Therefore you are guilty."

"You know you can change her mind about you." Remus said.

James looked up to him eagerly. "How?" he asked.

"Stop hexing and pranking Snape." Remus responded.

"But he started it!" James said indignantly.

Remus shrugged. "It doesn't matter who started it, if you end it you'll look like the bigger person. She will always have a bias towards him, he's her best friend. You will always be in the wrong over him, even if you both have equal parts in the situation."

James sighed. "Like that will ever happen. Snape will just keep attacking us and I won't be able to defend myself."

"Then you'll just have to hope her and Snape have a falling out, though that seems rather unlikely." Remus responded.

"One can hope, can't they?" James asked, shrugging. "Now let's change the conversation, I'm starting to get depressed."

They started talking about Quidditch and James sighed to himself. Even though he would miss his friends and Hogwarts, he wouldn't say no to a break from the stresses of school in the past few weeks. No more worrying about Frank or Lily for a couple weeks, and that would be nice.

* * *

><p>James sat on his bed reading a book he had just gotten for Christmas, <em>Evolution of English Quidditch<em> from Remus. He felt saddened at the thought of his thoughtful friend whom was, at the moment, scratching and biting himself as a deranged creature, not even maintaining his mind. Not for the first time, James longed for a way that he could help his friend. Remus didn't deserve it, the pain, the prejudice, the fear; he was one of the kindest people James knew.

James looked through his window and at the full moon, hoping that this was one of the better ones. It was late, probably around one in the morning but James couldn't sleep so he decided to read. He wished that he could have one of his late night talks with Lily in the common room, maybe then he could convince her that he had done nothing wrong.

_Don't think about her_. James told himself. He was trying to relax, to get away from the problems and thoughts that kept him up. But, of course, his mind didn't want to make things easier for him and so his mind drifted to Sirius. Sirius was probably awake now too, counting the days until he could return to Hogwarts and escape his family. James wished there was a way to communicate with him other than by owl; they lived far enough away from each other that it would take too long for letters to get to their recipients. They would have to come up with a better method of communication.

Suddenly, there was a blast and James pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind, grabbing his wand. He opened his door and saw his father and mother running down the hallway in their pajamas, both of their wands out. He followed them, turning the corner and running down the stairs.

"Liz its Death Eaters! Contact the Ministry, I'll hold them off!" His father yelled. He saw his mother run into a room next to the stairs, a spare bedroom with a fireplace. James ran past the room and went down the stairs two at a time.

He saw five Death Eaters, all in black, billowing robes, and glittering silver masks with wands drawn; shooting a variety of powerful spells at his father he dodged and blocked them with amazing speed. James understood why his father was considered such a powerful Auror at that moment: his eyes were blazing with a fire, fierce determination etched on his face. He shot spell after spell at his attackers, knocking them back, but there were too many. James shook himself and stopped watching, instead taking aim at one of the Death Eaters and shooting a Stunning Spell at them. The spell hit its mark and the man fell with a grunt. Harold Potter looked for the caster and, when his eyes spotted James, he looked fearful.

"James!" he yelled. "Get out of here!"

James ignored him and continued to fight; shooting every spell that came to his mind. He knocked down another Death Eater but, in a moment, one of the others revived his allies, making the Death Eaters back at full strength.

James scanned the room, looking for something he could use to his aid. He flicked his wand at the table and chairs in the dining room. They flew over, the chairs launching themselves at the Death Eaters and the table forming some cover for James as he thought of his next move.

The, out of nowhere, dozens of plates shot at the Death Eaters. James looked behind him to see Misty standing on the counter, her hands over her head and an angry look on her face. "Leave Masters alone!" She yelled. James had to fight the odd urge to laugh at the ridiculous sight.

Then, James felt himself go flying. One of the Death Eaters had blasted the table, the force, throwing James back without the notice of his father or his house elf, both of which were busy fighting, the explosion barely drawing their attention.

James struggled to get up. He had a burn up his left arm from the explosion and his ears were ringing. He groped around on the ground, feeling for his wand. Just as soon as he had grabbed it, however, he felt it ripped from his hand by a Disarming Spell. He looked up to see a Death Eater standing over him, his wand pointed at James's face.

"Little boy, you need to choose the right side of this conflict, or you will be destroyed." The Death Eater said. The voice seemed oddly familiar to James, but he shook the thought from his mind.

James did nothing for a minute, and then he shot his leg out, kicking the Death Eater in the shin. He yelled out in pain and James got up and ran. He ran through the kitchen and out the door to the backyard. He picked up his broom, which he had left on the ground, and hopped on, kicking off the ground hard.

The Death Eater ran out of the house in pursuit, looking around for James who tried not to make a noise. The Death Eater then spotted James and shut a spell at him. James dodged it as though it was a bludger and flew towards the front of the house, the Death Eater tailing him.

Just when James thought he was safe, a spell hit the tail of his broom. James was sent spiraling out of control. He just managed to pull up to avoid crashing directly into the ground but he still crashed into the ground.

James struggled yet again to get up, he was going to fight. He saw the Death Eater coming out him with his wand raised and James did the stupidest thing possible: He ran straight at the Death Eater.

He saw the attacker mouth a curse and watched the spell shoot at him. James felt himself being lifted into the air, his body being contorted while what felt like a thousand hot knives dug into him. His mouth opened in a silent scream and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. The pain was unlike anything James had ever experienced in his life. He felt himself being dropped and tried to get up.

"Tut tut." The Death Eater scolded. "Some people just don't learn."

James tried to throw a punch from the ground but felt the Cruciatus Curse put on him again. All thoughts were driven from his head; all that remained was the immense feeling of pain.

After what felt like forever the curse stopped. He saw the Death Eater running away as Ministry officials Apperated onto his lawn. James felt a moment of relief before he passed out and everything went black.

**A/N: Here's chapter 13! I'm proud of this chapter, probably the longest I've written, though it was weird to write a winter chapter in July. I hope you liked it and whether you did or didn't please review!**

**Ps: If you noticed more cursing in this chapter than the others I had been looking back at the first story and realized that if they cursed in First Year, its stands to reason that they wouldn't stop as they get older but, if anything, do it more. It won't be too much or anything too bad but there will be minor swearing, it is rated T.**

**Pps: To the Alchemist, firstly, I am honored that you consider me a well known and accomplished writer. Secondly could you please give me a link so I can go to it, I tried searching it on google and was unsure of which one it was. Thanks.**


	14. Awakening

Chapter 14. Awakening

Everything around James was pitch black. He looked up, as if from the bottom of a well, at a small circle of light. Suddenly, James could here voices. He could recognize what they were saying but not the identities of the speakers. The voices sounded as if he was hearing them from underwater.

"What are you doing here?" The first voice asked accusingly.

"I heard what happened, I-I wanted to see if he was okay." The second voice replied quietly.

"Whatever," The first voiced said angrily.

James heard nothing for a while, though he was unsure of whether the voices had stopped speaking or James just could no longer hear them.

Then one of the voices, the second one, asked the first something. "Where are Remus and Peter?"

"Eavesdropping on James's parents. They're talking to the Minister." The first voice responded and, with a flash of realization James knew it was Sirius.

"They're eavesdropping?" The second voice, Lily, James deduced, queried, scandalized.

"I would have done it myself but I couldn't leave in case he woke up." Sirius answered.

James felt a surge of affection for his best friend. He wanted to thank him but he still couldn't move or talk. The light was getting closer and in a moment it was on him, surrounding him in white hot light. James felt as if his eyes were burning but, before he could scream out in pain, the light diminished and the world spun into focus.

The first thing James noticed was that he was in the Hogwarts Hospital Wing. The white walls reflected the sun into his face and hurt his eyes. He reached his arm up to cover his eyes.

The movement caught Sirius's eye who screamed out, "He's awake!" James felt a flash of pain in his head from the sound, but it passed.

"You're awake," Sirius repeated happily.

"Like a brick wall, nothing gets past you." James said sarcastically.

"Thank you," Sirius responded with a bow.

"So what's going on?" James asked. "Why am I in the Hospital Wing?"

Sirius and Lily shared a look. "You don't remember?" Lily asked worriedly.

James closed his eyes and thought for a moment. He remembered sitting on his bed, then as though watching a movie, he saw flashes of the fight with the Death Eaters, the trying to fly away on his broom, being cornered by a Death Eater and then...

"I was put under the Cruciatus Curse." James stated. Sirius nodded.

"How did it feel?" Lily questioned.

James closed his eyes, trying to remember, but doing so gave him a headache. "I guess I blocked it out."

Sirius and Lily looked like they were going to say something when the door opened revealing Mr. and Mrs. Potter, Remus, Peter, and a man James didn't recognize.

"James!" His mother yelled happily. "You're awake!" She ran to his side, his father directly behind her.

"We were so worried!" his mother sobbed into his shoulder.

"Give him some room Liz," Harold Potter said. "He just woke up."

This raised a question for James. "How long was I out?"

"Three days," His father supplied.

"Yes. You did very well from what your father said." the tall, brown haired man that came in with his parents said kindly.

"Oh, I can't believe I forgot," Mr. Potter scolded himself. "James, this is the Minister of Magic, Dugald McPhail."

"Pleasure to meet you James; I assume these are your friends?" The Minister asked, throwing a slightly annoyed look at Remus and Peter who looked down at their feet, obviously having been caught eavesdropping.

"Yes Mr. McPhail." James responded.

"Nice lads, though they needn't try to eavesdrop, as I don't mind discussing it with you." The Minister commented. "Would you like to tell your son Harold?"

Mr. Potter sighed. "Very well. James, your mother and I are retiring."

James was shocked, but shook it off quickly. "But why?" he asked. "You were in your element, fighting those Death Eaters, and Mum, I thought you love being an Auror."

"Yes James though we were planning on retiring anyway, this ambush was the final straw," His father said. "We realized that our position in the Ministry, and our hatred of the Dark Arts have not only made us a target, but you one as well."

"We want to keep you safe, for as long as we are able to." His mother added.

James sighed. "Okay."

An upset look flashed across the Minister's face, but it quickly passed. "Well, I must be off. I'll alert Crouch of his promotion. Feel free to stop by anytime." He said, addressing James's father and mother.

"We will continue to help in anyway we can," Elizabeth Potter replied. "We just want a less prominent role."

The Minister nodded, said his goodbyes, and exited the Hospital Wing. Just as he left another person entered the room. Madame Pomfrey entered the room with a tray laden with different colored potions, all producing steam.

"Everybody out of the way," She shouted causing everyone to make a clear path for her to James. He sat up, trying to tell her that he was fine when she took advantage of his open mouth to dump a shimmering blue potion down his throat.

James coughed and spluttered but got the potion down. The Healer gave him a few more potions and put the remaining couple on the bedside table.

"Now all of you need to leave," she addressed the four Gryffindor students in the room. "I'll let the family stay only."

"But I am family!" Sirius yelled as he, and the other second years in the room were forced from the Infirmary.

Mr. Potter chuckled and Mrs. Potter smiled. "How do you feel?" She asked her son.

"I'm alright I guess." James responded. But something g was eating at the inside of his mind, and he decided to share with his parents. "I ran away."

His parents looked at each other, then him, slightly confused.

"I lost my wand and then I ran away." James stated, a feeling of shame spreading throughout his body.

"Of course you did, and you almost got away." His father said. "You didn't have your wand, what were you supposed to do?"

James grabbed his wand from the bedside table and held it, not responding to his parents.

"Listen James," Dad said gently. "You aren't a coward for running away. You jumped into the fight in the first place, a fight in which you were outnumbered and, no offense, out matched. Those men were grown wizards with vast knowledge of the Dark Arts and you, a second year had the courage to fight them."

"But-" James started.

"No James," his father cut him off. "You did the right thing. You almost got out of the fight unscathed, and that's all that we could have hoped for. I'd rather you live then get killed because you tried to keep fighting without a wand."

James nodded. "Okay."

"Good." James's father said. "Now for obvious reasons we don't think it wise for you to come over for Easter Break."

"Okay Dad."

"Alright, we need to leave before Madame Pomfrey kills us, so get better, write plenty, and stay safe." His mother hugged him and kissed him on the cheek and his father did the same.

"See you," James called to them as they exited the Hospital Wing, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

**A/N: Short chapter I know, long wait, I know, but that was just to build suspense (jk, I had to rewrite the chapter like three times and was really busy celebrating my birthday *hint hint nudge nudge* and doing other stuff). But here it is a little filler chapter that probably could have been part of a much longer, much better chapter. The best belated birthday present I could possibly get though is a review from each of my awesome readers. Thanks and see you all soon.**


	15. Long Nights

Chapter 15. Long Nights

James felt as if thousands of white hot knives were digging into his skin. The pain was unbelievable, unbearable and, with a jolt James awoke, sitting up in his bed, his t-shirt sticking to his body with sweat.

He sat up, and got out of bed. James walked over to the window where the water pitcher was. He poured himself some water and drank it quickly.

James looked out the window and onto the grounds of Hogwarts. It was early January, a week since he had woken up in the Hospital Wing and he hadn't slept more than a couple of hours a night since. Most of the time he just lays in his bed and stares out the window until he drifts back off to sleep. Now he stood in the window, looking out at the snowy grounds and leafless trees. The Whomping Willow knocked a bird out of the sky and light flurries of snow were raining down from the dark sky. Though the moon was covered by clouds James knew it was nearly full. He shivered as through the window, which he had opened, a crisp, chilly breeze blew. He shut the window and walked back to his bed.

"James?" a voice whispered to him; Sirius.

"Yeah?" James responded just as quietly.

"Another nightmare?" Sirius asked sympathetically, leaning on one forearm and looking up at his friend in concern.

James nodded.

"Maybe you should get sleeping potions from Madame-" He started.

"I don't need sleeping potions!" James snapped. Sirius fell quiet and James sighed.

"Sorry," James said quietly.

"Its fine James," Sirius responded.

"No, it isn't," James was becoming annoyed with himself. "I haven't slept properly for a week and now I'm being snappy with everyone. Maybe I should take a sleeping potion."

"You don't have to if you don't want to."

"I know."

Silence fell over them like the blanket of snow that covered the grass. James looked out the window again, watching the white, fluffy crystals of snow fall slowly; some of them sticking to the window while others joined the millions of others blanketing the cold, hard, earth.

"I feel like I'm letting them win, they're getting to me." James felt ashamed of himself, and confronting his fears with Sirius didn't help him.

"You don't have anything to be ashamed of." Sirius read his thoughts. "You're only twelve, and you withstood a curse that some adults crack under."

James didn't say anything, for a little bit. "Go back to sleep Sirius, I'm fine."

Sirius sighed and turned away from James. James knew he was only trying to help but James wasn't in the mood for it. He hated feeling this way, hated being afraid, feeling as if every shadow was a masked Death Eater. He was in a bad mood all day, and he could barely sleep all night.

James walked back to his bed and saw a bit of silvery material was keeping the trunk from fully closing. His Invisibility Cloak. Feeling suddenly wide awake James grabbed the Cloak and threw it over himself, checking to make sure it covered his feet. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

><p>James turned to a different corridor. He was on third floor. He checked his watch: two in the morning. James sighed, knowing he was going to be exhausted tomorrow, 'or today I guess'.<p>

James walked past the One-Eyed Humpbacked Witch Statue. He felt as if the eye was following him, staring at him. James turned and looked at it. For no particular reason James pulled out his wand and pointed it at the statue.

"_Alohamora_?" James preformed the spell, almost as if questioning the statue.

Nothing happened, not that James had really expected anything to. But yet James had a nagging feeling that he shouldn't take the One-eyed witch at face value.

Then he noticed that, upon casting the spell, the statue's eye was actually staring at him as if it trying to tell him something.

It was then that James noticed that the eye wasn't pointed at him, but at something behind him. He turned around and looked at the wall behind him, finding the spot where the statue was looking. It was a blank piece of stone, looking the same as the others around it.

However, despite everything in James's mind telling him there was nothing mysterious about the statue, that he was just tired and his imagination was going wild, he kept going.

"_Aparecium_." He said clearly, pointing his wand at the spot. To his surprise, as a result of the spell, a word lit up for a second before disappearing again: _Dissendium_.

James's eyes widened. He turned back to the One-eyed Witch and pointed his wand at her.

"_Dissendium_."

The statue split at the middle and opened into a dark passageway. James closed it back up quickly. He would have to show the guys this tomorrow.

_Well, today actually._

* * *

><p>"So you think you found a secret passage?" Remus asked James.<p>

"Wow Moony, great observation, it's not like James told us about it five times." Sirius commented sarcastically.

"Come on, are we going or not?" James asked impatiently, bouncing up and down on his bed. They were in their dorm room and it was about eleven at night. James had gotten his second wind and the tiredness he had been feeling all day was gone.

Remus sighed. "Okay." he acquiesced.

"Yes!" James exclaimed happily. He got out of his bed and started pulling his friends out the door.

"Wait, shouldn't we close up the curtains around our beds so Frank thinks we're asleep?" Peter thought aloud.

"Good thinking Pete," Remus said kindly. They quickly closed up the curtains around their four-poster beds.

"Now everyone under the Cloak," James demanded, his eyes lighting up with excitement. They all got under the Invisibility Cloak and checked to make sure their feet weren't showing. Once sure that they were completely invisible James led the way into the common room.

Because people would be suspicious if the portrait home opened and closed itself they decided to create a distraction. James pulled out his wand and all the furniture in the common room rose into the air and started flying in circles, doing laps of the room. Everyone was preoccupied with the floating furniture and didn't notice the portrait hole open itself slightly and close back up.

"Nice James," Sirius congratulated once they were in the hallways of Hogwarts.

"Thank you," he responded with a bow.

"Was it really necessary to make the tables spill people's homework every-" Remus was cut off by James putting his hand in front of Remus's mouth, muffling his sentence.

"Shh," James whispered, putting a finger in front of his mouth and then pointing to Filch who had turned the corner and entered the corridor. He held a lantern out in front of him and inspected every nook and cranny he passed.

The Marauders pushed themselves against the wall, telling Filch's ragged breath as he missed them by inches. When he passed, James let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd held in.

"Well that was a bit close for comfort." Sirius commented.

"Come on, let's go before he comes back," Peter said nervously, shuffling his feet.

They continued on the third floor, past the trophy room and finally reaching the One-eyed Witch Statue.

James stepped out from under the Invisibility Cloak and pointed his wand at the statue confidently saying, "Dissendium!"

James wished he could see his friends' faces when they watched the statue open up revealing a secret passageway but they were still underneath the Cloak.

He entered the passage, his wand lit and raised. He turned back to where he last saw his friends and asked, "You guys coming or what?"

"We're already here," Sirius whispered, Invisible, directly in front of James.

"Bloody hell!" James exclaimed, jumping a foot in the air.

"Shh," Remus scolded, while Sirius and Peter laughed, closing the passageway and pulling the Cloak off him, Sirius, and Peter.

"Prats," James mumbled.

He turned away from them and led the way down the rather narrow, dark path. They walked for about half an hour but the path didn't seem to end.

"Are we there yet?" Sirius whined.

"I don't know," James snapped. "I haven't been here before either!" His lack of sleep was catching up to him and he was feeling grumpy.

They all went silent for a minute as they continued walking. "Sorry," James apologize, breaking the silence.

"It's alright mate," Sirius responded with a smile.

Just then the passageway opened up into a cellar filled with crates. There was a flight of stairs, mostly hidden in the darkness, against the far wall.

James held his wand up higher, lighting up more of the room. Now that the four wands lit up most of the room they could see the labels on the crates.

"This one says Jelly Slugs!" Sirius yelled to his friends.

"Assorted chocolates!" Remus exclaimed happily.

"Cauldron Cakes!" Peter called out.

"Guys," James said excitedly. "I think we're in the Honeydukes cellar!"

Sirius whooped and Peter cheered. Remus smiled from ear to ear and they were all high-fiving and celebrating.

"We're gonna have to use this," Sirius commented.

"We can get tons of candy, and go to Hogsmeade before third year, and get more candy, and-" James rambled on about all the possibilities that this passageway to Honeydukes could provide them with.

"We should head back," Remus said, always the voice of reason. "Better we get back sooner than later."

The other three Marauders moaned but James knew he was right. The turned their backs on the candy-filled cellar and made their way back down the long, narrow passage, the trip back seemingly much faster than the trip from the school. They were soon back into the hallways of the school, underneath the Invisibility Cloak. Before they left the statue of the One-eyed witch, Remus had James show him the brick that told James how to enter the secret passage. The rather frail boy proceeded to destroy the brick and fill the space in with new stones which he conjured up saying, "That way not everyone can find it."

They returned to the Gryffindor common room at around twelve thirty in the morning and headed to bed, Remus, Peter, and Sirius all falling asleep far before James managed to.

* * *

><p>James woke up panting, having just experienced yet another nightmare. As his breathing slowed he calmed down. He looked at the clock; five in the morning. <em>Great<em> he thought bitterly _no chance of falling back asleep now_.

He got out of bed and left the dorm, not wanting to wake anyone up. When he got into the common room James took a seat on a couch right in front of the dying fire. With his wand, which he had grabbed when he exited the dorm, he conjured a new roaring fire which sent waves of warmth his way.

James stared at the fire for a while, not knowing how much time had passed as he had forgotten his watch on his bedside table. His eyelids felt heavy but his mind was racing. For once he had already done all of his homework in an attempt to distract himself. He wished he could just drift off to sleep within a couple minutes like he used to. James sighed. Trying to keep optimistic he thought that Quidditch practices would be starting up again at the end of the week which would help tire him out, not to mention it would be great to be back on the pitch.

James became lost in thought, his train of thought taking him from thinking about his parents to thinking about Quidditch to thinking about homework to thinking about Death Eaters to thinking about Snape to thinking about Lily. James wished there was a power switch on the side of his head that could let him just shut off his brain and stop the constant flow of thoughts.

Then, cutting off the stream of thoughts, was a creak of a stair. James's head shot, turning to where the noise came from. A second later a girl with fiery red hair exited the staircase that lead to the girl's dormitories holding a rather large looking book.

Lily looked up and seemed surprised to see him sitting in front of the fire. "Hello," she said rather awkwardly.

"Hiya," James responded with false cheeriness. "Come down for a little early morning reading?"

"Yup," She answered, popping the "p" and tapping the cover of her book. "Hogwarts, A History."

"Haven't you already read that?" James asked.

"Yeah but it's interesting; there's so much about the school that people don't know."

"You don't know the half of it." James chuckled, causing Lily to give him a questioning look.

"Nothing," James said, waving off the question before it was asked. They fell into an awkward silence that James didn't plan on breaking. Though Lily had visited him in the Hospital Wing he was still angry at her for their last interaction before the holiday.

"Are you feeling better?" Lily asked tentatively.

"Sure," James replied shortly.

"What's up with you?" Lily questioned, her temper rising.

"Go to hell." He mimicked her voice.

"Well that was before…" She stopped short.

"Before I was put under the Cruciatus Curse." James finished. "I didn't realize that was a factor in you thinking I'm not a vile person."

"I'm sorry I just hate how you and Sev fight. It would be so much easier if you got along."

"And classes would be easier if teachers didn't give any homework and gave everyone O's on exams." James responded sarcastically.

"It would be possible if you put in some effort." She shot back.

"Something tells me Snape finds that as undesirable as I do."

Lily sighed. "I know."

Students started entering the common room from the stairwells. James looked at Lily. "You got a lot of reading done," He said sarcastically, smirking at her.

"Yeah, thanks for that." She returned the smile.

"I should probably go get changed into my uniform." James gestured to the boys dorms.

"Okay."

"See you around Evans."

"You too Potter."

* * *

><p>Remus sat on the hard wood floors of the Shrieking Shack, tears streaming down his face. The full moon rose higher in the sky and light streamed through the cracked window in front of him. As he was bathed with moonlight Remus felt pain spread throughout his entire body. Dark brown fur began sprouting up all along his body. His face was brought out and formed a snout and his eyes turned from their warm, chocolate brown to yellow. His teeth became long and jagged, his hands turned to paws and his fingers to claws. As Remus grew into the six foot tall werewolf, his last human thought was that it was going to be another long night.<p>

**A/N: Chapter 15! Sorry it took so long but its here now. I hope you liked this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I found it interesting to write about their lives at night rather than in the day. I didn't want the Cruciatus Curse to be something that is only mentioned and gotten over by the next chapter like some fanfics I've read. It's a really traumatic experience, especially for a twelve year old. The last part with Remus may seem a bit random but I thought it fit in with the overall theme of the chapter, plus, at the beginning of the chapter the moon was mentioned so I figured I should throw in Remus's POV. Review please.**


	16. Solemnly Swear

Chapter 16. Solemnly Swear

Defense Against the Dark Arts was not one of James's favorite subjects this year and, as you tend to do during uninteresting classes, he often drifted off. He was doing this on a particular class when one word caught his attention: 'werewolf'.

James looked away from the window he was staring out of, eyeing the older students who were at their free period, and turned his attention to Professor Tenebrae. James didn't like doing this for a number of reasons, the top one being that, ever since the Death Eater ambush on his house, Tenebrae had had a knowing look on his face, a slight half smirk that appeared every time he and James made eye contact that led James to suspect he had a hand in the attack. It didn't help James's already horrible opinion about the teacher and desire to have him found out as the Death Eater James suspected he was.

Despite this, James looked towards the vile man and decided to listen to him speak.

"Werewolves are human beings who have been infected with lycanthropy. The infection is performed by an already Turned werewolf by biting a human. The saliva has magical properties that, once entered into the bloodstream turn the person into a werewolf." The professor drawled, obviously bored.

James looked to Remus as unobtrusively as possible. His friend was trying to act completely natural, as it none of these pertained to him whatsoever, but James could see he was nervous.

James checked his watch. Only a couple of minutes remained in the class period. He turned his attention back to the Professor.

"Werewolves seek solely human prey. If there was a flock of sheep in front of one it would go for the shepherd." Tenebrae continued. There was only a minute remaining in class.

The bell rang and James saw Remus relax, obviously relieved. Professor Tenebrae assigned them a foot long essay on properties of a werewolf and they were dismissed.

James and his friends quickly left Defense and headed towards Transfiguration.

"Sorry about that R-" Sirius started before James cut him off with a, "Shh." Sirius looked confused so James explained.

"We don't want anyone to realize that Remus is a werewolf. We need to make sure it stays a secret." James whispered.

Sirius nodded and they entered the classroom. That day they were turning their hedgehogs into pincushions. James managed to do this on his first try, Lily, Sirius, and Remus not far behind him. James leaned his chair back so it stood on two legs and started looking around the room at his fellow students. Peter was having trouble but Remus was helping him. He looked over to Sirius who shot him a thumbs up, holding his pin cushion up proudly. James smiled at him while, slowly, he turned his wand, which was on his desk, and pointed it a Sirius's pin cushion, muttering the reverse spell.

The poor hedgehog was thrown into the air by Sirius who was freaked out when his pin cushion suddenly had legs and was a live animal. Before it hit the ground, however, McGonagall froze it in the air and brought it back to Sirius's desk.

James was laughing as quietly as he could, sticking a fist into his mouth to keep from making too much noise as Sirius was reprimanded.

The porcupine, still scared out of its mind made a run for it. It jumped off the desk and darted between table legs, hiding in a small crack in the wall.

"Great," McGonagall said exacerbated. The teacher then began to shrink, her body became covered in tawny fur and a tail shot out of her lower back. The cat walked over to the crack purposefully, and, upon arrival, stuck a paw in and pulled the porcupine out, catching it in her mouth. McGonagall jumped onto her desk and dropped the porcupine into a box before transforming back into a woman.

The class burst into applause and McGonagall did a short bow, a smile on her face.

"Why didn't you just summon it Professor?" Lily asked.

"A little showmanship is always nice Ms. Evans." McGonagall smiled.

James had smiled and clapped and laughed along with the rest of the class when McGonagall transformed but and idea had formed in his mind at the same time. He remembered Professor Tenebrae's words, _Werewolves seek solely human prey. If there was a flock of sheep in front of one it would go for the shepherd. _He replayed in his mind McGonagall transforming from a human to a cat and back again. It was perfect, foolproof in his mind. James knew how he could help Remus.

* * *

><p>"You want to do what?" Remus exclaimed.<p>

"Become Anamagi." James said simply. "It's the perfect way to help you. On full moons you go to the Shrieking Shack with Madame Pomfrey, we follow you under the Cloak. Then we just transform into whatever animals we become and we can help you deal with being a werewolf."

"It's a great idea," Sirius commented. "Who would've thought you'd be the one to have it James?" James whipped a pillow at him. They were in the Room of Requirement, and currently it was a nice sized sitting room with comfortable chairs, a mahogany coffee table, a fireplace, and a couple of bookshelves. It was the only place in the entire castle where they could be ensured complete privacy.

"It isn't." Remus responded, remaining calm. "At least not now, you guys would have to wait until you're 17. Plus I would never ask you to do that for me."

"17? Why do we have to wait 'till then?" Sirius asked.

"You need to be of age. Not to mention you have to go through a long, tiresome procedure. It could take you years."

"Why don't we just do it now?" James questioned. "We won't need the Ministry's help; we could figure it out ourselves."

"No! That would be illegal; you could be sent to Azkaban for the rest of your lives!"

"Only if we get caught." Sirius countered, James nodding in agreement.

"Are you insane?" Remus yelled. "This isn't some prank at school, this is something that could go horribly wrong, something that could get you killed, and if not that, a life sentence in Azkaban! It isn't breaking a school rule, it's breaking the law!"

"What if we don't care?" James shot back. "What if we are willing to do this, despite the consequences, because we care that much!"

"I won't let you!" Remus yelled back. They were standing now, James, Sirius, and Remus. Peter was sill sitting, having yet to say a word on the matter, clearly torn between his friends.

"You can't stop us!" Sirius responded. James put a hand on his best friend's chest and pushed him back a little. James took a step closer to Remus.

"You have to stop pushing us away Remus! We aren't going to abandon you like others did. We're here for you, through thick and thin. We want to help you; let us." James pleaded.

Remus sighed. "What about you Pete? Are you gonna do this too?"

Peter looked up at his three friends, fear in his eyes at the prospect of making the decision. His eyes darted back and forth between Remus and James and Sirius.

"I would." He said after a minute of silence. Remus threw his hands into the air exacerbated.

"This is ridiculous guys! Where would we even start?" Remus asked. As if in answer a book materialized in front of the boys on the coffee table.

"_Animal Wizard: The Ins and Outs of Becoming an Animagus_" James read the title.

"Of course," Remus said, annoyed.

Sirius grabbed the book and started flipping through it. "This book has everything!"

James looked at Remus. "You'll help, right?"

He sighed. "Of course I will."

James nodded, and an idea struck him. As soon as it did a piece of parchment and two quills appeared on the coffee table. One was jet black, the other white.

James grabbed the parchment and one of the quills. He wrote up a document. Sirius, Remus and Peter read over his shoulder as he wrote it up. When James was done, it read:

_The Marauder's Oath_

_I solemnly swear that I will always have the back of a fellow Marauder, that I will always protect and be there for my fellow Marauders, that I will always stand up for what is right, that I will pass down the ways of the Marauders, and that I will always cause mischief whenever possible._

James signed his name at the bottom and held the quill out to his friends. Sirius took it first and signed his name at the bottom before handing it to Remus who did the same. Peter signed last and James took out his wand and waved it over the parchment.

"What's the other quill for James?" Sirius asked, pointing to the black quill.

"This," James responded simply. He picked up the quill and, without dipping it in ink, wrote directly under his name, _I solemnly swear_. The words appeared in red and James felt them cut into the back of his right hand creating an open cut of the same phrase. Remus and Peter gasped and James, ignoring them, held out the Blood Quill. Sirius took it and wrote the same phrase, _I solemnly swear_. Remus took it next, wincing slightly as the words simultaneously appeared on the parchment and were cut into the back of his hand, _I solemnly swear_. He handed it to Peter who took it, a little hesitantly, and wrote carefully under his name, _I solemnly swear_.

**A/N: Here's chapter 16! I hope you liked it, I figured the Marauders would have to make an oath of some kind at some point and this seemed a good one. Please review.**


	17. Bets, Books, and a Bad Irish Accent

Chapter 17. Bets, Books, and a Bad Irish Accent

**A/N: for those of you who thought that James had a blood quill he doesn't, the Room provided it for him. And I thought doing that would be better than them doing a Blood Oath. Sorry if I offended you.**

James had a couple piles of books around him. He was at a table in the library with a couple rolls of parchment laid out in front of him. Sirius appeared behind him smirking.

"How's my Potion's essay coming Jamie?" Sirius asked smugly.

"Just marvelously." James responded rather bitterly. He knew he shouldn't have made that stupid bet on the Ravenclaw/Slytherin match.

* * *

><p><em>"So who do you think is going to win the match this weekend?" Remus asked the other Marauders at dinner on Thursday.<em>

_"Ravenclaw." James responded as Sirius simultaneously answered, "Slytherin."_

_James turned to Sirius. "Slytherin?" he questioned his friend._

_Sirius nodded. "Yep," he said. "Even though probably every member of that team bought their way onto it, none of the Ravenclaw members care enough. Plus the Slytherins cheat though the game cause their Keeper's good enough to block the penalty shots."_

_"Selwyn? He's rubbish!" James exclaimed._

_"True," Sirius acknowledged. "But the Ravenclaw Chasers are too predictable. You saw their game against Hufflepuff; they made the same shots every time!"_

_"Mate, Ravenclaw's gonna wipe the floor with Slytherin."_

_"If you're so sure let's make a bet. Loser does the winner's homework."_

_"The stuff due Monday?" _

_Sirius thought for a moment. "Sure." He held out his hand and James shook it._

_"Guys you really shouldn't be-" Remus started. But James cut him off._

_"Too late Moony, we already shook." _

_"Yep, sorry mate." Sirius added. "Any other bets?"_

_Peter shook his head quickly. He clearly didn't want to be responsible for anyone else's homework considering he could barely handle his own._

_Saturday_

_"And Slytherin wins," John Davies told the crowd disappointedly. _

_"Yes!" Sirius whooped, much to the surprise of many people surrounding him. He turned to James with a smug look on his face. "Told you so!"_

_"Why the hell did Hawkins go for the Snitch?" James asked no body in particular. Hawkins, the Ravenclaw Seeker, had caught the Snitch when Ravenclaw was one hundred sixty points back, making it so, even with the Snitch, they lost the match. "Isn't he supposed to be smart? Ravenclaw was in possession, if he had waited for Clearwater to score then Ravenclaw would've won!"_

_"Could've, should've, would've Jamie-boy." Sirius said with a smirk. "Now about my homework. You're going to need to do my worksheet for Herbology, and that essay for Potions, as well as..._

* * *

><p>Sirius watched him for a few more moments, made a few clever comments at James's expense before eventually getting bored and leaving James to continue working on the assignment.<p>

A couple of hours later James finally finished he and Sirius's homework. He put everything in his school bag and pulled the bag onto his shoulder.

James practically ran out of the Library, he really wasn't a fan of the place, and didn't slow down until the cursed place was out of his sight.

"Ah," he sighed, rolling his shoulder to move his school bag into a more comfortable position.

James turned the corner and nearly ran into a group of Slytherins.

"Top of the afternoon to ya!" James greeted them in a rather bad Irish accent.

"Potter," Snape growled. Avery, Mulciber, Nott, and Regulus were all with him, pulling out their wands one by one.

"What you guys are gonna fight me? Five on one?" James asked his hand drifting down towards the robe pocket where his wand sat.

Avery stabbed his wand at James, shooting a hex at him. James dodged it as if it was a bludger, launching himself to the right of the spell and pulling his own wand out simultaneously.

Before James could even shoot a spell in response, Avery was frozen in his spot, Nott's head was double it's normal size, Mulciber had boils covering his entire body, Regulus was on the ground with a Full Body Bind, and Snape had been blown into a wall, his wand in the hand of James's savior: Frank Longbottom.

"Bloody hell Frank!" James shouted in surprise. "That was bloody incredible!"

Frank said nothing, instead, tossing Snape's wand at his collapsed form.

James kept going. "You used nonverbal magic! You took five Slytherins out before they could even turn and see what hit them!"

Frank shrugged. "I've been studying." He started walking away. James ran to catch up to him.

"Frank!" James called, causing his dorm mate to stop.

"What?"

"Look mate, that was incredible, amazing really, but the fact that you're at a post OWL level in second year, I mean…" James was trying to best configure his words to get his point across.

"Look Frank, you shouldn't try to grow up so fast. By the look of it, it sucks. The world outside of Hogwarts is like- like a boiling cauldron of hippogriff dung and we're gonna have to go out and face it someday, but that day isn't today!" He took a breath as an excuse to gather his thoughts. "We've only got a handful of years left of childhood and we shouldn't just, you know, throw them out the window. We can be prepared for the real world, we should be, but we aren't in the fight yet, not all in anyway."

Frank looked at James with a blazing look in his eye. "They killed my father,"

James nodded and put his hand on Frank's shoulder comfortingly. "I know, and we'll get them back for it. Just over break my family and I were attacked and I would like nothing more than to put away all of the scum that were there, but we should enjoy this," He gestured to the hallway around them. "while we can still can."

Frank nodded.

James smiled at him. "Come on, I know exactly what you need."

"What?"

"You need a good prank." James answered simply.

**A/N: I am so so so so so so so so so so so sorry, but here is a very late chapter 17. I've been really busy as school is starting up in a couple of weeks and I had yet to do any of my homework. Plus I was at band camp for a week (how nerdy am I?) but, I'm here with this short chapter. I promise I'll get the next one up sooner and reviews do help encourage me and give me ideas so it would be nice if you all did that. Thanks for reading.**

**PS. In the flashback I mentioned how if it was tied then the game went to whoever caught the Snitch. I do not know if this is true but I couldn't find the answer on the internet so that's what I used. If you know that its untrue (or true) tell me what it really is and I'll go back and change it.**


	18. More Maruader Madness

Chapter 18. More Marauder Madness

Severus Snape woke up to his dark dorm in the dungeons. He went into the bathroom and showered quickly before getting into his robes. He grabbed his bag and, after making sure all his books were there, he left his dorm and entered the Slytherin common room. He looked out through the windows to see the underwater excursions of the different fish and water creatures. He saw his reflection in the window, his hook nose, his beady eyes, and his hot pink, glittery hair.

"_Potter_!"

* * *

><p>James roared with laughter along with the rest of the Hall, minus the Slytherins, at the ridiculous looking pink sparkly hair all the Slytherin boys had. They laughed even harder when more of the girls came in as all of the Slytherin girls had pink sparkly facial hair.<p>

James looked away from the Slytherin table, regrettably, and faced Frank who was red faced and teary eyed from laughing so much.

"Told you all you needed was a prank mate," James told him with a smirk. James thought back to them adding the hair growth and color change potions to the water pipes that controlled the running water in the Slytherin bathrooms. Frank had even charmed it so all hair and color changes would last for a week.

"This is great mate," Sirius told him laughing. Sirius was eying his brother and some of his cousins in particular, laughing at their ridiculousness.

For the rest of the week the Slytherins kept their pink hair (both facial or otherwise) and it certainly improved the mood of everyone in the school outside of that house.

James was particularly happy when he saw Lily laughing at the results of the prank, even though Snape was one of the victims. James couldn't stop smiling when he saw her giggle when Snape walked up to her, unable to stifle the laugh.

But soon the week was done, and all of the Slytherins' pink hair feel out and their normal hair returned, much to the disappointment of many. However, the timing was perfect because, just as the week ended, the month of March began. And that, of course, meant it was the birth month of the Marauders.

* * *

><p>March 1st began like any other day. The sun rose in the east, bathing Hogwarts in light. Peter yawned as he woke up, the sun shining in is eyes, brighter than it usually was.<p>

Thats odd, Peter thought. I could've sworn I drew my curtains before I went to bed.

Still groggy and rubbing his eyes, Peter rolled out of his bed, expecting his feet to hit the floor of his dorm, he was shocked when the next thing he knew he was submerged in frigid water.

Peter swam up to the surface, now wide awake, and grabbed onto his mattress for support. He was in the middle of the lake, his mattress floating around like a boat, and James, Sirius, and Remus were on the shore, rolling around and crying with laughter.

Peter swam into shore. Once out, he shook himself, trying to get as much of the water off of him.

"Happy Birthday!" his friends said simultaneously.

"Not my birthday," Peter muttered.

"It may as well be, unless you don't want your presents till fifth year." Remus told him.

"How the hell did you hear that?" Peter asked.

"Super werewolf hearing," Sirius supplied.

Remus rolled his eyes.

* * *

><p>Saturday March 10, had the school abuzz for the GryffindorHufflepuff Quidditch match. James and his friends were excited for another reason.

"Happy Birthday Moony!" They all chorused to wake their friend up.

"Come on," James said impatiently. "The match is starting soon, it may be your birthday but I can't miss the game!"

"Wow, I feel so loved." Remus responded sarcastically. He got ready quickly as James bounced up and down with nervous energy.

"Are you ready yet?"

"No."

"Are you ready yet?"

"No."

"Are you ready yet?"

"Yep." Remus responded, grabbing his Gryffindor flag and walking towards the door.

"Are you-" James started. "Oh, you are! Let's go!"

James marched them down to the Great Hall. They sat at the Gryffindor table and grabbed some breakfast. James smiled at Remus's delighted face at the triple chocolate cake and milk at his spot.

"Did you guys-" Remus started.

"Talk to the house elves and get them to give you your favorite cake for breakfast?" Sirius asked. "Yeah."

They enjoyed a delicious dessert for breakfast and then made the walk to the Pitch, James separating from their group and going to the changing rooms.

When he got there, James took off his t-shirt and jeans and changed into the gold and scarlet Quidditch robes. He grabbed his broom and followed his teammates out onto the pitch.

Dorcas and the Hufflepuff Captain shook hands and, just like that, the game began. James kicked off the ground as a Hufflepuff Chaser grabbed the Quaffle and flew towards the Gryffindor hoops. James turned and flew after him, his hair shipping to the side as he did so.

James caught up to the Hufflepuff, swerving to his left. Suddenly a bludger flew and hit the ball out of the Hufflepuff's hand. James flew under him and grabbed it. He turned around and launched towards the opposite hoops. The other Hufflepuff Chasers surrounded him. He shot up into the sky, passing the Edgar who was searching for the Snitch. None of them followed him after a certain point so he kept going towards the Hufflepuff Keeper.

James dived down out of the clouds, taking the Hufflepuff Keeper by surprise. He tossed the Quaffle into the middle goal.

The Hufflepuffs retaliated by getting a goal on Gryffindor making the score even; 10-10.

Max got the Quaffle next, passing it to James who sent it to Annebeth who scored. The Hufflepuffs almost scored after that but Dorcas blocked the shot.

The game went on, and it was a good one, Gryffindor's main advantage being their superior Keeper and, slowly, the score became more and more in favor of the Lions.

"And it's 80 to 50 to Gryffindor," John Davies told the crowd.

James caught the Quaffle Dorcas threw to him, Hufflepuff having just attempting to score. He flew forward, past Max, being failed by a Hufflepuff Chaser. He tossed it backwards to Max who caught it easily and flew towards the goalposts.

This was unnecessary, however, as just then, Edgar dove towards the ground, the Hufflepuff Seeker on his tail. Just as he reached the ground he pulled up and followed the Golden Snitch as it flew just above the well trimmed blades of grass on the Pitch until he caught it.

James cheered with the Gryffindors, pumping his fist in celebration. He high fived his teammates when a thought struck him. He turned towards the Commentator's Booth and flew up to it, and grabbed the magic microphone from John Davies.

"Potter! Detention!" McGonagall called to him.

"Of course Professor! Looking forward to it!" James called back before flying to the middle of the Pitch.

"Attention please!" he called through the microphone. The people in the stands quieted a little. "Thank you. Now, today is a very special day. It is the birthday of a certain Remus Lupin. Show yourself to the crown Remus!"

James looked for Remus in the stands and saw him, trying to hide to no avail as Sirius pulled him up.

"Now considering it's Remus's birthday how about we sing him a song? On the count of three!"

"One! Two! Three!"

"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Remus! Happy Birthday to you!" a good amount of the audience sang to a red faced, extremely embarrassed Remus.

"And many more!" James added.

The crowed cheered and people around Remus patted him on the back.

James returned the microphone to its place and flew down to his friends.

"Git." Remus said, punching him in the shoulder.

James smiled and ruffled his already messy hair. "Consider it your birthday prank mate."

Remus sighed. "I almost wish you had put my bed in the lake."

"We'll remember it for next year," Sirius responded with a smirk.

* * *

><p>Sirius woke up pleasantly, the sun haven raised to the point where it was in his eyes. He got out of bed silently, unsure of the time and saw that it was seven in the morning: breakfast. He quickly got ready, each of his dorm mates wishing him a happy birthday in greeting. They all went down to the Great Hall and, when they got there, Sirius noticed that people were giving him strange looks.<p>

"What?" he asked a first year, visibly annoyed. The boy looked like he might say something but decided against it and walked away. Many more encounters like this happened to Sirius throughout the day and he couldn't figure out why. He had gone to check his reflection in the bathroom after a pretty Ravenclaw fourth year gave him a pitying look. Sirius was becoming more and more agitated as the day progressed, asking his friends what was going on to which they would just look up and down his face, expressionlessly, before saying nothing was wrong.

Sirius, however, being rather vain, especially for his age, was distraught and knew, despite the fact that nothing appeared to be wrong, that something must be wrong.

Finally, after suffering all day, Sirius had enough. At dinner he blurted out, "What the bloody hell is wrong with my face!" The Great Hall fell silent, that is, until James, Remus, Peter, and a bunch of other people started laughing hysterically.

"What?" Sirius whined at them.

"Should we tell him?" Remus asked James and Peter. James nodded, unable to say anything as he couldn't stop laughing.

Sirius looked at Remus expectantly, but the frail boy picked up his goblet of Pumpkin Juice and took a long, slow, drink. Then he pulled out his wand, pointed it at Sirius's head, and dumped the remainder of his Pumpkin Juice over Sirius's head.

Sirius spluttered for a second and was still confused. James pulled out his wand and transfigured the goblet into a mirror which Sirius grabbed, looking at his reflection.

"Gotchya?" Sirius read in his reflection.

"We didn't do anything to you," James explained. "We wrote that on your forehead, got some magic, waterproof makeup from some girls and covered it up, then paid a bunch of people to give you weird looks all day."

His friends laughed at his expense some more and Sirius smiled. What could he say; they got him fair and square.

* * *

><p>James woke up with a yawn. He walked into the bathroom and showered quickly. It was when he went to dry his hair that he noticed something was wrong. Where his hair was normally all over his head going in every direction, only a line from the back of his neck to the front of the top of his head had hair, and that line was rainbow colored. His friends had given him a rainbow mohawk.<p>

James had tried to flatten it, to at least let it lie flat on his head but they had put an Imperturbable Charm on it. He tried to put the school hat over it but the charm kept it floating just above his hair; wonderful. James sighed, accepting his fate, and walked down to the Great Hall. When he entered some people pointed it out but he ignored them, walking up to where his friends were sitting and laughing at him.

"Ha ha," James said sarcastically. "Simply hilarious."

They kept laughing and James just started eating. As he was finishing up his scrambled eggs, a voice behind him said, "Good look for you Potter."

James smiled as he recognized the voice. He turned to Lily and said, "Wotcher Evans!"

She nodded to him, unsuccessfully hiding a smirk. "You like?" he asked, doing a couple poses for her. She laughed.

"How long are you keeping it?"

James turned to his friends. "That's a good question, how long _am _I keeping this?" He gestured to the mohawk.

"A week," Remus responded smirking. Peter and Sirius laughed from across the table.

"Excellent," James said. He turned back to face Lily and told her. "I think I'll keep it for a week, I haven't quite decided yet."

She smiled at him. "Okay, good to know. See you around Potter."

"Right back at you Evans." James responded, giving her a salute and a smile before finishing his breakfast.

**A/N: Here's Chapter 18! I hope you enjoyed, I finished it yesterday on the Hogwarts Express, you know, in between games of Exploding Snap and Wizard Chess. Sorry I didn't post it then, I was exhausted after the Feast. I'm starting OWL year now so updates might not be as often (or they will as I'll be procrastinating a lot). I was looking at my stories and I realized that Year One has more reviews that Year Two, even though this one has more chapters. Don't fret though, I've a solution. Why don't all of you readers click that magical button and leave a review, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!**


	19. Practice Makes Perfect

Chapter 19. Practice Makes Perfect

James stared outside, completely ignoring Professor Binns ramble on about the Goblin Wars. James wasn't the only person in the class not paying attention though. As per usual almost everybody was ignoring the ghost teacher, even most of the Ravenclaws whom he shared a class with. Other than a Ravenclaw boy and a Ravenclaw girl, Lily Evans was the only one taking notes. James watched her for a moment, ignoring the snores of his best friend to his left. Then he realized that there was normally a fourth person who managed to persevere and take notes as the most boring teacher in the school droned on: Remus.

James turned around that Remus, like Sirius, had his head down on his desk, his crossed arms working as a sort of pillow for his forehead. James took the piece of parchment he was supposed to be using for notes and wrote a note on it, before passing it back to Remus as inconspicuously as he could.

About a minute later James felt the roll of parchment poke his back, and he grabbed it with the hand that he held behind his back.

James unrolled the parchment and read it:

_Is it a full moon tonight? ~J_

_ Yes ~R_

James turned and gave his friend a sympathetic look. He dipped his quill into the inkwell and wrote a response.

_We'll be able to help you soon ~J_

_ You really don't have to do that ~R_

_ Yes we do, your our friend ~J_

James handed the note back to Remus, but was given the parchment back a second later.

_Thank you ~R_

The bell rang and James took out his wand and burned the parchment with it.

"Not a very effective way to keep track of your notes Potter." Lily told him as she walked past him.

"I've got a photographic memory Evans," James responded, leaving Remus to wake Sirius and Peter and following the redhead.

"Really?" She asked.

"No," James shook his head, smiling.

"Hilarious," She responded sarcastically, though she couldn't quite suppress the smile that appeared on her face.

"Sarcastic," James countered.

"I know you are but what am I?" She replied.

"Beautiful,"

Lily blushed, and then she checked her watch. "Well, I've got to get to Charms. See you!"

"I've got Charms too, we can walk together!" James called to her.

"Thanks but I want to get a good seat!" She responded before turning and walking away.

"Idiot," A voice said from behind him.

"Who? Me?" James turned around to face Remus.

"Yes you, what did you do that for?" Remus asked him, a tired Sirius rubbing his eyes and a yawning Peter behind him.

"What? Complement her?" James questioned incredulously.

"Yes." Remus answered. "She's risking a lot even being friends with you, or whatever you two are calling it, due to the fact that her best friend hates you. So you going complementing her like you like her makes things even more complicated for her."

"Who made you an expert on girls?" Sirius asked.

Remus shrugged. "I'm a quiet person, I hear things."

"That's cheating! You've got your super werewolf hearing!" Sirius countered.

"Shush it with the super werewolf thing; we don't want all of Hogwarts knowing about it!" James scolded his best friend.

"Sorry," Sirius responded solemnly. "But you know it's true."

"Are you an eavesdropper Moony?" James asked him jokingly, mostly.

"No, Lily also happens to be my friend, and as such we do talk every once and a while." Remus responded smoothly. "Plus, they are kind of loud when they talk in the common room."

Sirius patted Remus on the back and James roared with laughter. Peter, who was still half asleep, only smiled.

"Come on, let's head to Charms." James said after he was done laughing.

"Do we have too?" Sirius whined.

"Well-" James started before a look from Remus shut him up.

They walked to Charms in relative silence with the exception of Sirius's whines and Peter's yawns. They arrived right before the bell and managed to grab a square of four desks towards the back.

That day they were working on the spell _Aresto Momentum_. They worked in pairs, one person throwing the ball up and the other slowing it down before it hits the ground.

James was working with Sirius. He threw the ball up into the air and Sirius slowed it down with a lazy flick of his wand. James accomplished the spell with similar ease. They kept at it for a little bit before James got distracted by Lily whom, in showing off, was using two balls instead of one.

"Oy!" Sirius called to him, bringing him back to reality. James turned to Sirius just as he threw the ball at his face.

"_Aresto Momentum!_" James said quickly, causing the ball to slow just before hitting James's face. James then grabbed it out of the air.

"I want to try something," He told Sirius. He then pointed his wand at the ball and made two more balls.

"Let's see if we can do it with more balls,"

"That's what she said," Sirius responded quickly, picking up all three balls and tossing them into the air.

James slowed them down to the point that you could barely tell they were falling. He looked over to Lily triumphantly. Their eyes met for a second and the redhead narrowed hers slightly. She waved her wand and now had four balls. James did the same and had five.

Their little competition continued until both had thirteen balls. That's when Professor Flitwick noticed them.

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Evans, well done. Take ten points each!" The teacher said happily.

The bell rang then and Flitwick Summoned all of the balls, becoming somewhat overwhelmed by the mass of balls.

"Well that was fun," James commented as he and his friends exited the class.

"If you call not being able to do the spell fun." Peter muttered.

"Oh lighten up Pete; I'll help you with it later." James told his friend.

"Thanks mate," Peter responded appreciatively.

"So I saw you and Lily were in a little competition before," Remus changed the topic of conversation.

James shrugged. "Meh, I guess."

"Meh, I guess," Sirius mocked in a high pitch voice that sounded nothing like James. "My ass, you were practically making out with your eyes."

"Hardly," James waved off his accusation. "Just friendly competition."

"Don't you mean 'acquaintancely' competition?" Peter asked

"I'm pretty sure that isn't a word Pete," Remus told his friend. Then, suddenly, the frail boy clutched his side and fell over.

"Remus!" James shouted, crouching down to his friend's side and started helping him up. Sirius crouched down too and, with one of Remus's arms over each of their shoulders they stood up.

"Let's get you to the Hospital Wing," James told his friend. "Peter, why don't you go ahead and tell Madam Pomfrey what's up?"

Peter nodded and ran ahead as James and Sirius began their trek towards the Hospital Wing.

Within fifteen minutes they were there and they helped Remus into one of the beds. He was asleep within a minute.

* * *

><p>James led Sirius and Peter down to the Hospital Wing.<p>

James yawned. "How did you guys sleep last night?"

"What with Moony's howling? Barely." Sirius responded.

"Are you kidding? I heard you snoring for almost the whole night!" Peter said incredulously.

They entered the Hospital Wing and went to the bed that had the curtains drawn.

"Are you sure that that's Remus?" James asked as Sirius grabbed the curtains.

"Only one way to find out." He pulled the curtain,

Remus lay on the bed, a long gash along his chest. His leg was at a bad angle, clearly broken. Another long scratch along his left arm, his right broken as well. His face was covered in dried blood.

"Bloody hell Remus, what happened?" Sirius asked.

"Some are better than others," he answered between racking coughs.

"And some make you look like Death!" Sirius countered, gesturing to Remus's broken body.

Remus didn't respond and they stayed in silence for a few minutes until he fell asleep.

The day continued like that. None of them went to classes and Remus fell in and out of consciences. Whenever their friend was awake they joked around and whenever he was asleep they worked on homework or sat in relative silence.

* * *

><p>Remus was in the Hospital Wing for three days after the full moon. When he got back James had decided that it was time to start training to become Anamagi.<p>

They met in the Room of Requirement an hour before curfew. The Room had given them a spacious, relatively empty room with the exception of four chairs.

"So what do we do first?" James asked Remus who sat down and pulled out the Anamagi book.

"The first thing you need to find out is what animal you're gonna become. And you do that by producing a Patronus." Remus told them.

"A what?" Peter questioned.

"A Patronus, a sort of positive force used to ward off dementors. You think of a happy memory and then you say _Expecto Patronum_. If you do it right then it comes out like an animal, the same animal that you would be if you become an Animagus."

"Let's make a Patromus then!" Sirius said excitedly.

"Patronus," Remus corrected.

"Whatever," Sirius waved him off and pulled out his wand.

"_Expecto Patronum_, right?" James asked.

Remus nodded and James took a deep breath. He thought of the first time he flew, when he had stolen his father's broom and flown it around the backyard. He held out his wand and said confidently, "_Expecto Patronum_!"

A slight wisp of silver light emitted from his wand.

"Nice James!" Remus congratulated him.

"Unless I'm gonna turn into mist when I transform, I don't think I did it correctly."

"Do you realize that there are grown wizards who can't produce a Corporeal Patronus? You expecting to accomplish it on the first try is a bit ridiculous." Remus told him.

"Yeah I guess."

"My turn!" Sirius shouted. He jumped up and pulled out his wand. James watched him screw up his face in concentration before saying, "_Expecto Patronum_!"

A wisp of silver mist came out of Sirius's wand, just as James had done. Peter went next, not even managing a wisp.

"I think you guys aren't thinking of a happy enough memory. What did you think of?"

"I thought of the first time I flew," James told Remus.

"The first prank we did," Sirius said.

"When we found the Kitchens," Peter answered.

"Why don't you try it then Remus?" James asked.

Remus stood up, pulled out his wand, and closed his eyes. "_Expecto Patronum_!"

A wisp came out of his wand too, but nothing more.

"What was your memory?" James asked his friend.

"When I found out I could go to Hogwarts," Remus responded. At their confused look he explained, "If any Headmaster other than Dumbledore had been in charge, I wouldn't be allowed in."

"Why cause of your furry little problem?" James questioned.

Remus snorted. "Furry little problem?"

"Would you prefer time of the month?" James countered.

Remus just shook his head smiling. "You guys just don't seem to realize how unusual you are. I personally can never help being surprised that you haven't run away screaming."

After that they all took turns attempting to cast a Patronus. Sirius was the first to cast a Corporeal Patronus. The giant dog ran around the room, its tail wagging and its tongue out.

"Awesome mate!"

"Bloody Brilliant!"

"What was your memory?" Remus asked.

Sirius blushed a little. "I thought of you guys."

"Aww Siri!" James said, running and hugging his best mate. After a minute he released him saying, "Lemme try!"

James thought of his friends and let his mind wander, thinking of their good times. Like a slideshow, memories flew through his head and Lily appeared in them too. Keeping his eyes closed he said, "_Expecto Patronum_!"

A magnificent stag burst from his wand and galloped around the room.

Remus did it next a giant, six foot tall wolf coming out of his wand.

Peter managed it last, right before they left, a rat scampering across the ground before disappearing.

They exited the Room of Requirement in high spirits, talking and laughing and completely forgetting the fact that it was almost one in the morning. That is, until Filch appeared in front of them, happily saying, "Well well, students out of bed. I'm going to enjoy this."

**A/N: What! Two chapters in two days? The world really is ending in December! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this and that you review, as those reviews I got inspired me to write this. Thanks for reading!**


	20. Forest Findings

Chapter 20. Forest Findings

"Well well, students out of bed," Filch said smiling widely. "I'm going to enjoy this."

Sirius looked like he was about to say something so James kicked him to stop it. They walked along in near silence, following Filch. Other than Sirius's muttered whine of, "That hurt," and James's whispered response of, "Don't be a pansy."

Filch led them down towards the dungeons until they reached a small, old door that led into a room barely larger than two broom cupboards. The caretaker walked behind his desk and pulled out four detention forms and filled them out quickly.

"Names," he said aloud. "James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Crime, out of bed. Sentence a detention and a deduction of points to be decided upon by Professor McGonagall."

He finished filling out the form with a flourish and put it into one of the many cabinets lining the small room's walls.

"You will serve your detention with Hagrid. You will be going into the forest to help him with some of the work that needs to be done at night. You are to report to the Entrance hall at eleven o'clock at night. Don't be late."

The four boys nodded to him solemnly.

"Come with me," He told them, still smiling widely.

He led them back up, away from the dungeons and his office and towards the Transfiguration wing, to where McGonagall's office and housing is. He knocked twice, smartly on the door and their teacher's tired voice called, "Come in,"

The caretaker opened the door and led the Marauders to Professor McGonagall who sat at her desk in her nightgown.

"What were you four doing out of bed at one in the morning?" The Head of Gryffindor House asked them sternly.

"We were exploring," Sirius told her. "And my I say Professor that you look ravishing tonight." Remus hit himself in the face with his hands, covering his eyes obviously hoping that if he didn't witness it, it wouldn't be happening.

McGonagall, however, just ignored the comment and continued. "Mr. Filch has already assigned you detention, correct?" They nodded in response. "In addition forty points will be taken from Gryffindor."

James felt a pang of anguish. They would loose the lead that they had maintained since almost the beginning of the year.

"I expect better from the four of you. You are very studious," she looked at Remus. "Talented," the professor turned her gaze to James and Sirius. "And hardworking individuals." She gave Peter a look as well. "I hope that you will attempt to stay out of trouble in the future."

Sirius made a slight snort that only James heard.

"You are dismissed."

The four boys stood up, and walked towards the door.

"See you in a few hours Professor!" James called to her and, despite the early time and the circumstances for which they were meeting, the Transfiguration teacher could not hide the smile that formed at the comment.

* * *

><p>At eleven o'clock the next night James and his friends met Hagrid at the Entrance Hall. James was feeling a little disheartened due to the fact that Gryffindor had lost the lead but alright none the less. No one knew he and his friends had been the cause of the loss in points, so they had been left alone. James for one, wanted to get Gryffindor back in the lead, though not at the cost of no longer playing pranks or sneaking out at night. In the words of Sirius, "We can still <em>do<em> stuff, we just can't get caught."

"Tonight wer goin' inter the Forest. Professor Slughorn needs some… well, I dunno how ter say it, but it's got purple flowers. We're gonna get some of it, but it's hard to find so we'll have ter split up. James and Sirius can go with Fang, yeh met him last year righ'? And I'll take Remus and Peter. We'll send up green sparks if we find any, you ought to do the same. Alright? Let's get goin' then!"

They entered the forest together before splitting up a couple minutes in, James and Sirius taking a picture of the plant so they would be able to recognize it. They went right, Fang leading the way. The dog was very excited, though that could have just been nervous energy. Fang also seemed to like Sirius quite a bit. He licked the boy's hand and rubbed up against him.

"He really likes you," James commented to his friend after they stopped, yet again, while they waited for Fang to stop licking Sirius.

"Yup," Sirius responded. "I'm just awesome like that."

Fang barked at them to keep up and the boys ran to catch up. Fang waited for them semi-patiently, sort of bouncing in place, and in a moment they saw why. He had found some of the plant.

"Good boy!" Sirius congratulated, patting him on the head. The dog panted appreciatively.

James held the picture Hagrid had given them up to the plant, moving his wand so the light from it would help him see more clearly.

"That's the plant alright," James confirmed. He and Sirius then started to pick some and put it into the basket Hagrid had given them. They had finished picking the whole patch within a few minutes and, just as James was about to shoot up sparks Sirius stopped him.

"Shh," Sirius told him and James nodded. Sirius started walking slowly, turning off the light from his wand. James followed him, doing the same, his eyes adjusting to the lack of light within a minute.

"Stay," James quietly commanded Fang, who did just that. He put the basket down in front of the dog.

James turned away from the dog and followed Sirius, now seeing what his friend had seen. A cloaked person, most likely a man due to their height, was running through the forest, swiftly and silently. James and Sirius looked at each other for a second and, without saying a word, simultaneously ran after him. They watched as the man darted past branches and trees, managing not to get his long, billowing cloak caught on anything. The second years followed more slowly, though always making sure that the man remained within their sights.

After following for a couple minutes, the man slowed down. They were far into the forest and the trees were thick, almost no light from the sky above managing to break through the leaves. When the man finally stopped moving, James could barely see him, the dark cloak helping with his camouflage. They moved closer until they were able to see him more closely. James watched him pull out a watch and check the time. No sooner had he done that, however, another man appeared directly in front of him, also in a dark cloak.

"What news do you bring?" The new man asked. His voice was heavy and commanding.

"Nothing as of yet," The first cloaked man responded. "Dumbledore hasn't made any movements in response to the recent muggle attacks as He expected. The old man seems to think nothing of them."

"What about the attacks on blood traitors? Anything at all, people he's spoken with, snippets of conversations overheard; nothing?" The new man pressed on.

"Not that I have been able to find."

"How about Malfoy? Has he had any luck in reaching out to those he is supposed to?"

"Yes, it seems there is a good amount of interest in joining. The majority of those asked have been sworn to secrecy, and given nothing more than necessary to interest them in our cause." The first cloaked man responded, his voice giving James the impression that he was happy to be able to actually report something.

"Excellent," The other man, clearly the first's superior replied.

"Do you think we will have to resort to our… _other plans_, to assist some people to help our cause?"

"Not at the moment, though, perhaps, in the coming months, that will change."

"Excellent," The first man responded, making James have to wonder what the "other plans" were.

The two men then said their goodbyes, the first one turning to walk back to the school, and the second, turning on the spot and disappearing.

James and Sirius stayed silent for a minute.

"What the hell was that about?"

"No idea," James replied. "But I think I have an idea about who that was."

Sirius nodded solemnly, obviously thinking the same.

Their thoughts about their Defense teacher from earlier in the year had been correct: Tenebrae was a Death Eater.

**A/N: Here's chapter 20. Sorry it took so long to get up, I had finished writing the chapter when I realized that I hadn't continued from where I left off in chapter 19. So, I basically wrote this just now for you guys because I wouldn't be able to get it up any time over the weekend, or Rosh Hashana. Thank you for reading this and to any fellow Jews, Happy New Year!**


	21. Ideas and Actions

Chapter 21. Ideas and Actions

James and his friends walked through the halls of Hogwarts, their loud voices echoing throughout the nearly empty halls. This was because the Marauders currently had a free period, right before Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"What time is it Moony?" Sirius asked.

Remus checked the watch on his left wrist, "Five minutes 'till we need to be at Defense."

"Aww!" Sirius whined.

"Come on, let's get it over with." James said, turning around and going towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. After walking for a couple minutes they arrived at the classroom to see the door shut. James looked through the window in the door and saw the sixth year NEWT class.

"Good job Remus, we're early!"

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Remus responded.

"You say that like it isn't," James countered.

"Touché," Remus replied. "But we should hardly come late, it's not like we need another reason for him to punish us."

"Fine," James acquiesced.

James couldn't deny that that was true. Throughout the past couple months the hate/hate relationship between Professor Tenebrae and the Marauders had escalated. The loathing that both parties felt for each other was quite strong, though because Tenebrae was a teacher he clearly had the upper hand. He had given them loads of detentions but, ever since the events of last week the four boys had tried to stay out of trouble with this particular teacher. The boys' detention in the forest and James and Sirius's overhearing of the conversation between Tenebrae and someone who was obviously his superior, had fully cemented their theories about their least favorite teacher, not that they were too unsure before.

They waited by the door for a minute, James leaning against the wall, Sirius pacing back and forth, Remus pulling out a book, and Peter looking up and down the hallway.

Finally the sixth year class was dismissed, before the bell had even rung, and they poured out of the classroom.

"Hi Captain," James greeted his Quidditch Captain with a salute.

"'Sup James,"

"Nothing much." He shrugged. "We have Tenebrae now."

"Good luck," she warned him. "He's in an atrocious mood; he held Malfoy back at the end of class and gave him detention for talking to the bloke next to him."

"That's rough," James responded. "But it's Malfoy. Who cares?"

Dorcas laughed. "Too true. I'll see you tonight for practice James."

"See you Captain,"

By now, other students were arriving so James and his friends walked into the classroom and grabbed their usual seats in the back.

"I hate this class," Sirius muttered.

"Who doesn't?" James responded, pulling out parchment and a quill.

"They don't seem to mind,"

James looked in the direction his friend tilted his head and saw the Slytherin students who were sitting up front.

He didn't respond, however, as Lucius Malfoy walked past them, a smug look on his face that would never be worn by someone who had just been punished.

"Did you see that stupid look on Malfoy's face?" Sirius asked before James could voice his similar thoughts.

"What was that about?" Peter questioned.

"I think," James commented. "That Malfoy wasn't given detention."

"Do you think it has something to do with-" Peter started before Professor Tenebrae cut him off saying.

"Do the four of you want to share your conversation with the class?"

A look of outrage flew across Remus's face as he had done nothing, but it was gone in a second, James noted. _Doesn't want to get in trouble_, he thought to himself.

"Nah, I'd rather not," Sirius responded coolly.

_Maybe Sirius could take a page out of his book_

Tenebrae narrowed his eyes. "Detention,"

"Looking forward to it," Sirius responded with a smirk.

Tenebrae took a step closer to Sirius, a look on his face some grown men would cower from but that Sirius didn't even flinch at. Sirius stared at him directly in the eyes, as if blinking would be a sign of weakness.

"Another detention and twenty points from Gryffindor." The professor smiled, thinking this would be enough to quiet his student. Obviously he didn't know Sirius very well then.

"Excellent, I've thought that I have too much free time,"

"Mr. Black, if you do not stop speaking this instant-" The teacher warned, but at this point Sirius was all in.

"Mr. Black, if you do not stop speaking this instant- " Sirius mocked in a squeaky voice.

"A month's detention!" Tenebrae exclaimed. "You must learn respect!"

"Respect must be earned Professor." James said causing a few people to gasp. James was surprised himself, not meaning to say it out loud.

"What would you know about that Mr. Potter?" The teacher turned to him, nostrils flaring and a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Well, for starts, I'm pretty sure bullying a bunch of twelve year olds isn't grounds for deserving it."

"A month of detention for you as well Mr. Potter, and thirty points from Gryffindor."

"Only thirty?" Sirius rejoined the conversation. "What's going on Professor, have you gone soft?"

Tenebrae was done. "Get out of my classroom!"

Sirius pushed his chair out loudly and turned on his heel. "Gladly,"

James did the same and, when Remus made a look to copy them, James shook his head in the slightest to keep him from doing so.

James closed the door behind them. Sirius was already a little ways down the hall.

"Sirius, wait up!" James ran to catch up with his friend. Sirius stopped and James stood next to him, seeing his nostrils flared.

"Come on; don't let him get to you, that's what he wants."

Sirius proceeded to call Tenebrae a number of cruel, inappropriate, and rude names for a couple of minutes.

"Feel better?" James asked when he was done.

"Loads," Sirius responded with a smile. "How much time until we have to go to another class?"

James looked at his watch and did the math quickly. "We're fifteen minutes into Tenebrae's class but it's a double period today, so there's another hour and a quarter of that. Then we've got lunch."

"What do you want to do until then?" Sirius asked unnecessarily as he saw the mischievous glint in James's eyes.

"I've got an idea or two."

* * *

><p>James and Sirius laughed maniacally as the dungbombs exploded in Filch's office. They ran down the hallway, attempting to quiet themselves as they did so, that way they wouldn't get caught. They only laughed harder, however, when they heard the scream of fury coming from the direction they had just left.<p>

"Come on," James told Sirius, laughter still in his voice. "Let's go before Filch comes looking for us."

Sirius nodded and they turned to the next corridor. They slowed down after that, walking calmly and with purpose. They had discovered that acting as if you weren't out of place helped you blend in more efficiently.

As they were walking along though, Sirius nearly tripped on the furry cat that was Mrs. Norris.

Unsurprisingly, when the boys turned around they saw the looming figure of a very angry Filch.

"Dammit," Sirius muttered to James. "We were so close."

James nodded and followed Filch, who didn't even say a word but led them back to his office, or rather, what used to be his office. James hadn't quite realized what fifteen dungbombs could do to an office barely double the size of a large broom cupboard. You couldn't see the floor, and all the papers on the desk now had a brown film covering them. Not to mention it smelled like dung.

"Blech," Sirius muttered under his breath.

Filch walked over to his desk and started rifling through his papers, looking for a detention form. Just as the caretaker managed to find what he was looking for, however, a transparent man with a multi colored bowtie and a mischievous look on his face burst into the room cackling.

"Peeves!" The caretaker growled.

Peeves just laughed some more. That's when he noticed James and Sirius.

"Why if it isn't the Maraud-" the poltergeist started.

"Silencio!" James shouted, whipping out his wand and silencing the spirit.

Peeves kept talking but realized no sound was coming from him. A look of outrage flashed across his face and, in his anger, he flew around the room, knocking over everything he could reach before flying out of the rooms.

"Peeves!" Filch yelled angrily, running in pursuit of his arch nemesis.

"Let's go," James told Sirius, seeing an opportunity to escape.

"Yay! No detention!" Sirius did a little victory dance for a minute before stopping, a smirk forming on his face.

"Hold on a second mate,"

"What?" James asked. Sirius walked over to one of the file cabinets, pulling out his wand and cleaning it so he could see it better. When he looked at the labels for each drawer, his smile widened. He reached forward and opened a drawer up. James looked at the lable:_ Confiscated and Highly Dangerous_.

Sirius started rifling through the drawer, stuffing most of the stuff he found into his pockets. He then closed the now much emptier drawer and led James out of the office and to the Great Hall. James checked his watch and realized that lunch had started a couple minutes ago.

They opened the oak doors, ignoring the looks that people gave them and sat next to Peter and Remus.

"You guys stink," Peter told them, pinching his nose. Remus seemed to agree as, a second later, he pulled out his wand and waved it in their direction. James sniffed the air and smelled lavender.

"Lavender Moony? Really?" Sirius asked. Remus shrugged and continued eating.

"So what did you guys do with your free period?"

"Oh, you know, study, do homework." James waved off the question. Remus gave him a look of obvious disbelief and shook his head. Now James shrugged. "Well it was productive to say the least." Sirius and he shared a look and smirked. "We'll tell you about it later."

* * *

><p>"I hate Filch," Sirius said later that same day as he opened the door to the dormitory. James nodded approval as he followed him in.<p>

"Well you can hardly blame him, you did blow up ten dungbombs in his office," Remus responded reasonably.

"It was fifteen," Sirius corrected him. Remus rolled his eyes. "And that's not why we got detention."

Remus looked at them suspiciously and they smirked. "We set Fang on Mrs. Norris."

Peter and Remus laughed appreciatively.

"We almost got away with it too," Sirius added regrettably.

"But he saw us bring Fang in and show him where the cat sleeps." James finished.

Peter started laughing more as did Remus. James and Sirius looked at each other for a second before roaring with laughter. They kept laughing for a while, until James's side hurt and he had tears in his eyes.

"That's great," Sirius sighed, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"It would've been better if you hadn't gotten caught," Remus told him.

Sirius whipped a pillow from his bed at his frail friend who used his book to deflect it up into the air.

James thought for a second. "I wish we had something we could use to tell us where people were in the castle, that way we could just avoid them."

"And we could use it to see what Tenebrae's doing," Remus added.

"Yeah but James probably just wants to use it to stalk Evans," Peter commented. Sirius and Remus burst out laughing as James countered, "Would not!"

"Yeah right," Sirius waved this off.

"I wouldn't!" James told them. "We're friends now!"

"Acquaintances," Remus corrected.

"Whatever."

"But how long is that gonna last?" Sirius shot back.

"Low blow," Remus muttered to him.

James just shook his head and said, "No faith."

"How would we do that anyway?" Remus asked, changing the subject. "Be able to tell where everyone is all the time?"

"Well when you say it like that we sound like stalkers," James smirked.

"What about a map?" Peter questioned. "If we charmed a map of the school we could see where everyone is and ways to avoid them."

The other three Marauders were silent for a moment, staring at Peter in awe. He shifted uncomfortably. "If you guys don't think it's a good idea-"

"Not a good idea? It's bloody brilliant!" Sirius yelled.

"Nice one mate," Remus congratulated.

"You're a genius Pete!"

Peter stuttered thanks and blushed.

"But where would we get a map?" James asked. "It would be kind of hard to draw it out."

"Filch has a basic one in his office," Sirius pointed out.

Remus shook his head. "That wouldn't work. Not enough detail. If we want to be able to tell where people are and be able to navigate around them we'll need something more realistic."

James thought for a moment. "Is there a spell that could put the image of the school on paper? You know, like a picture?"

"We could do some research," Remus told them.

Sirius pointed a finger at his face, muttered _Avada Kedevra_ and pretended to die, closing his eyes and sticking out his tongue.

Remus rolled his eyes and James laughed, throwing a pillow at Sirius.

"Anyway, I'm sure we could find something that can do that." Remus attempted to bring the conversation back on track.

"Would we have to go to the shadow land?" Sirius asked.

"The shadow land?"

"The," he paused for dramatic effect. "_Library_."

James, Remus, and Peter rolled their eyes.

"You'd have to knock me out and drag me to get me to go in there." He said matter-of-factly. "But maybe there's something in here that could help," Sirius reached for his schoolbag and dumped out the contents. James watched not only the expected books, rolls of parchment, quills and inkwells pour out of his bag, but also a Fanged Frisbee, a necklace with a bloody fang on it, a statue of a chimera, a pair of square mirrors, and an unmoving doxy.

"Where'd you get that stuff?" Remus asked concern obvious on his face.

"From a cabinet in Filch's office." Sirius responded.

"The one marked 'Confiscated and HighlyDangerous'" James added.

Remus shook his head and Peter looked at them in awe.

"What does all this stuff do?" Peter asked, touching the doxy. It suddenly sprang to life and flew at his face. Peter picked up a pillow and managed to hit it into the curtain.

"No idea," Sirius replied with a smile to the pale Peter. "But that's part of the fun. Right?"

**A/N: I'm so sorry. I've been super busy all October with Marching band and when I wasn't completing mountains of homework I started watching Doctor Who. I finally finished this last week and then the power went out because of Sandy so here it is. I'm really sorry but you guys should feel special, I'm procrastinating from my NaNoWriMo to post this. I'll try and update again soon. Thanks for reading.**


	22. Extracurriculars

22. Extracurriculars

Against Sirius's will (they almost _did_ have to knock him out and drag him in order to do it) the foursome went to the Library to do some research on their little "Extracurricular Activity". Well, technically their second activity but they had taken a break from the Anamagi Project as they hadn't been able to sneak out to practice, what with James's Quidditch practices and the mountains of homework teachers had been dolling out recently.

The only reason the Marauders had the time to go to the Library was because they had a free period after lunch that day. It wasn't enough time to continue learning to be Anamagi but, for some Library research it was perfect.

Sirius looked at the Library, taking in the room. He had only really been in the room a handful of times in his almost two full years of Hogwarts and most of those had been to get Remus to abandon his studying and play a prank with them. The room was huge, spanning back quite far, shelves upon shelves filled with all sorts of books filling the room like a precarious domino set up, waiting for a giant finger to flick the first one down and begin the chain reaction. The study tables were all over, some towards the front of the large room, it was about the size of the Great Hall if not bigger, where they generally found Remus, sometimes with Lily, to James's pleasure, sometimes with a Ravenclaw friend, and sometimes all alone with a stack of books at least as tall as the young Gryffindor. Sirius couldn't help a feeling of dread washing over him. The room was huge and Sirius was sure that they would have to search the majority of the shelves before they found what they were looking for.

Remus led them from the entrance towards the left, to a large area that he told them was related to Charms. Sirius felt relieved they wouldn't have to search to whole, monstrous room, but was still upset at the large search they had before them.

"We're looking for a spell that takes a picture almost and puts it on the paper, that way at least, we'll have the basis of our map. We can worry about further charms later." Remus told them.

Sirius, James, and Peter acknowledged him and they split up, searching through the shelves for anything that could help them.

Sirius went towards the far edge of the Charms section before venturing into the shelves. He scanned the titles of hundreds of books on the shelves, running his finger along their spines and muttering the titles to himself. He found a couple that might have something useful and put them in his bag, but that was about it. He worked his way up and down the shelves, walking through the maze, his fingers sliding over the cool backs of hundreds of old books. Sirius almost wished he enjoyed reading after a while. He could understand why Remus was always doing it. Almost.

Sirius continued his search for a while, loosing track of time. He was so engrossed in searching, his mind no longer giving its full attention to the task at hand, that he didn't notice the girl until he crashed into her, both of them forced to the floor.

She pushed her red hair out of her face and began to pick up her books, asking him, "Why is it that you and James always knock into me?"

Sirius smirked at Lily. "Well, when you have a superior mind, your thoughts often wander." He made sure to make his voice sound extra wise and worldly.

Lily rolled her eyes. "What are you doing in the Library?"

"Looking for a book," He told her.

"Why?" She asked, obviously suspicious. She spent a lot of time in the Library and barely ever saw Sirius stay in the room for more than a minute.

"To read," Sirius answered, giving her a look like it was the most obvious thing in the world. It was and he knew that hadn't been what she meant.

Lily rolled her eyes again. "Whatever, we have class in a couple of minutes; I don't suppose you plan on showing up."

Sirius thought for a moment. "Depends on the class," He answered.

Lily's eyes looked to the ceiling yet again, and Sirius wondered why she rolled her eyes so much.

"Transfiguration," She told him.

"Minnie!" Sirius said happily. "I wouldn't miss Minnie's class,"

Lily looked scandalized. "Minnie?"

Sirius nodded with a smile. "That's her name."

"That's so disrespectful!"

"I think to think of it as a pet name." Sirius responded.

Lily didn't respond. She finished picking up all of her books except for one which Sirius picked up and handed to her.

"Thank you,"

Sirius saluted her.

Lily stood up, they had been squatting this whole time, brushed off her robes, gave Sirius an awkward sort of wave and left.

Sirius didn't have to continue his search much longer as he ran into James.

"Ha ha!" Sirius said, pointing at James and fake laughing.

"What?"

"I just talked to Evans!"

James looked upset for a second, then a look of worry flashed across his face. "What did you tell her? Did you make stuff up about me? Did you tell her those embarrassing stories my Mum told you?"

Sirius laughed. "No, we talked about books and Minnie, nothing special. And I had forgotten about those stories, thanks for reminding me."

James punched Sirius in the shoulder and Sirius laughed again.

"Where are the others?" Sirius asked.

"They're by the entrance waiting for you; you were the last one still in the shelves. They sent me to look for you." James told him.

"So we can leave now?"

James smiled. "Yep. Finally."

Sirius nodded in agreement and they left the Charms section and met up with Remus and Peter at the Library's entrance.

"Did you find anything?" Sirius asked.

James shook his head. "Nothing much, a couple of advanced Charms books,"

Peter shook his head as well. "Same as James,"

"I found a bunch of promising stuff, but I'll need you guys to help me look-" Sirius started to run away when Remus suggested more work and he heard James running behind them. Sirius risked a glance behind him to see James catching up and the two dots that were Remus and Peter getting smaller and smaller in the Library entrance.

* * *

><p>James finished his Transfiguration essay with a stab of his quill, pocking a hole in the parchment that served as a period. He waved his wand and made the ink dry and then rolled the parchment up.<p>

He stretched and yawned looking out the window. It was dark out; the stars the only light in the sky, the moon not even a sliver. James looked around the common room to see it much fuller than it was normally at this time of night. Despite it being almost midnight the common room appeared almost full of students scratching their quills across rolls of parchment and reading books.

There were only a couple of months, closer to a month and a half, until exams and the end of the year. There was the Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw Quidditch match that Saturday which marked the beginning of the end of the year. Teachers knew the time was coming to an end and had, every class, giving more and more homework.

James had only made it back from Quidditch practice a couple of hours ago and he had spent the time since his return writing his numerous essays. Remus, Sirius, and Peter had waited up for him, as they generally did, Remus taking advantage of the time and the company to study more properly, having Sirius and Peter quiz him on the ingredients of different potions.

"Done!" James proclaimed proudly. No one turned to look at him. He made an irritated noise and looked at Remus, Peter, and Sirius, who were in a circle on the floor near the fire.

"Congratulations," Sirius told him sarcastically. Sirius didn't even look to James but continued to look through the Potions text book for a question for Remus. "List three ingredients needed to make a Swelling Solution."

"Puffer fish eyes, dried nettle, and bat spleens." Remus answered after a couple moments of thought.

"Correct," Sirius responded without any enthusiasm whatsoever. "Are we done yet?"

Remus nodded, taking pity on him. "Sure." Remus stood up and so did James, Sirius, and Peter. They walked up to their dormitory to find Frank already asleep.

"I don't want to go to bed," Sirius whined.

James looked up at his friend from where he sat on his bed, taking off his shoes. "What do you have in mind?" James ceased untying his left shoe.

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know. We could go exploring, prank someone, anything but go to sleep."

James turned to Remus. "Have you made any headway on the charm for the map?"

Remus answered him but looked as if he really didn't want to. "Yes. I found a charm I _think_ might work. I suppose we could test it out."

"Brilliant!" James said happily, retying his shoes and standing up. Sirius whooped as quietly as he could manage so as not to wake Frank. Remus sighed and Peter stood up and yawned. James grabbed his Invisibility Cloak from his trunk and threw it over them and they set off, walking down the stairs, through the common room, and out through the portrait hole without being noticed.

The foursome walked through the hallways freely. The prefects and Head Boy and Girl had finished their rounds by now so they were alone in the castle with the exception of Mr. Filch and Mrs. Norris.

They walked to no where in particular, eventually ending up near the One Eyed Witch's statue. They took of the Invisibility Cloak.

"Right, so, would you like to do the honors Moony?" James asked Remus who made a face at the name. He pulled out the thick, old, leather-bound spell book and opened it to the page that he had folded over.

Remus then pulled out his wand and started muttering the long spell under his breath. James detected words that sounded like Latin though may have been even older. Remus's wand wasn't shooting out light but was instead letting out a sort of mist that floated throughout the room. The blank piece of parchment sat on the floor at Remus's feet and, when Remus appeared to be almost finished, he pointed his wand down to the parchment.

James watched in awe as the parchment glowed a goldish white and then a beautifully, and what appeared as hand drawn version of the hall and rooms around them appeared on the page. James noticed that it even included the passageway through the One-Eyed Witch's hump, as though the magic had seeped through the invisible cracks in the statue.

"Amazing," James said quietly. Remus picked up the parchment and examined it.

"Not to be a downer here," Sirius started. "But this is only a map of the area, it isn't going to tell us where everyone is, or stop us from running into Filch."

"Well we need a map before we could have anything that does that," Remus pointed out.

"Touché," Sirius responded.

They got back under the Invisibility Cloak, just in case Filch came walking their way, and started to head back to Gryffindor Tower, stopping every once in a while to add the area they were in to their rough copy of a map.

* * *

><p>James took a deep breath as he exited the changing rooms with the rest of the Quidditch team, all of them clad in scarlet and gold robes and holding their brooms tightly. The Ravenclaw team exited their changing room at the same time, their team in blue and bronze robes. The two teams met in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch where Madam Hooch sat on her broom, her whistle around her neck.<p>

"Now I want a nice fair game," She told the Captains who then shook hands.

Then, Madam Hooch blew her whistle and threw the Quaffle into the air. James kicked off the ground hard and rocketed into the air, much higher than he needed to be. He watched a Ravenclaw chaser grab the Quaffle and fly to the Gryffindor goal posts and then flew after him, catching up relatively quickly. James then flew above him and swung his leg at the Chaser, kicking the Quaffle out from under his arm.

Max, who was in the perfect place to catch the ball, flew it in the opposite direction flying towards Ravenclaw's goals. He passed to Annebeth who flew it up to the goal, pretended t throw at the right hoop but instead passed it back to James who easily scored it through the left hoop.

John Davies, the announcer who happened to be in Ravenclaw, was obviously upset at the start of the game. He continued to show his disapproval when the score went from 10-0 Gryffindor to 60-10 Gryffindor to 100-30 Gryffindor. The game couldn't have been better for the Gryffindor Chasers, some of the goals being truly spectacular including one where Max threw the Quaffle to Annebeth who kicked it through the middle hoop.

James, Max, and Annebeth continued their streak, keeping the ball from even getting close to Dorcas. Every time they made it to the Ravenclaw goals they scored, sometimes with fantastic tactics and other times with well aimed bludgers from Fabian and Gideon.

The score was 170-30 when the snitch was spotted. Edgar and the Ravenclaw seeker, James was pretty sure his name was Boot, raced around the field after the particularly quick Snitch. James knew that if the Ravenclaws caught the snitch it wouldn't matter that he had had one of the best games of his life and his fellow Chasers seemed to know it too. They shifted into overdrive, James and Max practically tackling the other Chasers to give Annebeth a clear path to the goals. She scored making the score 180-30. They need to score again.

But they were out of time it seemed. One of the Ravenclaw Beaters hit a bludger that hit Edgar in the face, knocking him to the ground (which he was close to as the Snitch was flying just above the grass).

Boot was alone with the Snitch. He dodged a bludger and then another and managed to catch the snitch between his fingers. He held it up above his head, smiling from ear to ear and expecting the crowd to be cheering for him.

The crowd was cheering, but it was the Gryffindor side. While Boot was chasing the Snitch James had managed to regain possession of the Quaffle. Max and Annebeth were too far from the goal to score so he was alone. He knew he didn't have much time so he flew as fast as he could, weaving around the Ravenclaw Chasers and beaters and to the Keeper who looked prepared to stop James from scoring at any cost. James wouldn't have that though. All he needed to do was score and Gryffindor would win, and Gryffindor only needed to win this match to make it to the Championship match. James flew directly at the Keeper like a bullet and the Ravenclaw steeled himself to block the impact. James saw him close his eyes for just a second and that was all he needed.

At the very last second James jumped off of his broom and to the right goalpost, throwing the Quaffle through it and then grabbing onto the golden rim with both hands, dangling fifty feet above the field.

It had been enough. James had won them the game. Max and Annebeth flew over to him and he jumped on Max's broom. They rode down to the field to see how Edgar was doing, cheering and screaming and smiling the whole way.

Edgar was awake sprawled on the ground. He had a cut along his forehead that was bleeding a lot be he seemed fine other than that.

"Did we win?" He asked.

"Yes, yes we did," Dorcas said kneeling next to him. She then bent down and kissed him. Edgar seemed surprised, not moving for a second, but then he seemed to gather his senses and kiss her back.

James whooped and Max wolf whistled. The Gryffindors cheered loudly and happily and Fabian and Gideon announced that there was to be a party in the Common Room. Edgar was sent to the Hospital Wing (with Dorcas at his side) and James, Max , and Annebeth were pulled onto the shoulder of the Gryffindor fans and carried into the school, ready to reap the rewards of their victory.

**A/N: Here it is, chapter 22. Sorry it took over a month to get it here, I was doing NaNoWriMo (I'm a winner!) and when I sat down to work on this story again all my ideas for the rest of Year Two were gone. I didn't forget about you guys, I even stayed up to finish this chapter (its past midnight now and I'm exhausted). Please Review!**

**Ps. To any fellow Jews, Hannukah's at sundown today! Happy Hannukah!**


	23. Two-way

23. Two-way

James wiped the sweat from his forehead with his muddy hand, making a long brown line across his face. Max and Annebeth, who he was walking back to Gryffindor Tower with, laughed.

"Hilarious," James said sarcastically. "And you guys are clean enough for tea with the Minister eh?"

Max's hair was matted with dirt and mud and his shirt was soaked with sweat. Annebeth's hair was messier than James's, if that was even possible, and also had plenty of mud caked into it.

The two stopped laughing but continued to smile, mostly at each other. James wanted to barf. It was so obvious to anyone who could see that Max and Annebeth fancied each other. Obvious to everyone but them that is. Max had yet to pluck up the courage to ask her out so James was the third wheel out of the group, and no matter how hard he tried to get out of those situations it was hard when they spent hours everyday after school together.

James was grateful when they finally made it to the Fat Lady. As they had chatted on their way up Max and Annebeth were practically making out with their eyes and were flirting so obviously James felt sick. They entered through the Portrait Hole and James waved goodbye to them, thankful to be out of the awkward situation.

He walked over to Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

"What's up?" Sirius asked James.

"The sky," James replied.

"So funny," Sirius responded sarcastically. Peter crinkled his nose.

"Mate, you stink,"

"Yeah, go take a shower," Remus agreed.

James rolled his eyes and headed towards their dormitory.

"Have fun!" Sirius called after him.

James ignored him and walked up the stairs to the dorm marked _Second Years_ he pushed the door opened and walked into the bathroom, pulling off his Quidditch Robes and getting into the shower. He sighed contently as the hot water hit him. He showered quickly, washing up and then exiting the shower.

James dried off, pulled on a T-shirt, a pair of jeans, and a different pair of shoes than the ones he had been wearing before and returned to the common room with his school bag.

He walked over to his friends and started pulling out his books. "What homework is due tomorrow?"

Remus looked at his planner. James and Sirius shared a look that said: _Seriously? A planner_. "We've got a Potions essay on the properties of Alihosty, a Charms worksheet on color changing charms, and we have to put together a list of what classes we want to take next year."

James had forgotten about that. During the week McGonagall had told the Gryffindor second year students that they get to choose what classes they take next year. Sirius had asked if they could drop classes but McGonagall said no, not to anyone's surprise.

They could choose Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, or Muggle Studies. They all sounded interesting to James but he couldn't, not that he would want to, take all of the classes in addition to the ones he was required to take.

"What classes do you guys want to take?" James asked his friends, not bothering to even pull out a piece of parchment to do his other homework.

Sirius shrugged. "I heard Care of Magical Creatures is easy." He responded. "Plus it might help us deal with Moony,"

Remus punched Sirius in the shoulder. Then, the frail boy turned to James. "I would be interested in Care of Magical Creatures but Professor Kettleburn is kind of… _eccentric_. Plus Ancient Runes is supposed to be very interesting. Arithmancy is supposed to be more logical than Divination, though they're kind of similar and, as for Muggle Studies, I'm half-blood so I wouldn't really need that."

"I kind of want to take Muggle Studies, you know, mostly to mess with my parents." Sirius commented.

"But you could learn about Muggle stuff without taking Muggle Studies." James told him.

Sirius shrugged. "Yeah, but when my parents see a letter with a book about muggles on it they'll flip a –"

"Divination is supposed to be really easy, just making up dream diaries and stuff," Peter told them. "That's what my brother said."

Peter had an older brother, who was out of Hogwarts, a Gryffindor who was currently traveling the world. Peter idolized him.

James noticed a flash of red out of the corner of his eye and looked to see Lily entering the common room with her friends.

"Evans!" He called to her.

Lily turned to look at him, rolling her eyes. "Yes?"

"What classes are you taking next year?"

"Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies, and Divination," Lily answered him.

"Why Muggle Studies? You're Muggle Born!"

"I thought it would be interesting to get another perspective."

"Or you just wanted an easy O," James joked.

Lily continued to walk with her friends, not answering.

James turned back to his friend and filled out the sheet they had been given, checking Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies, and Divination on his list.

Sirius looked over his shoulder and scoffed. "Seriously?"

James nodded, unabashed. Sirius shrugged and then checked the same boxes as James had.

"What about you Moony? I don't suppose you'll be joining us." Sirius smirked at Remus who looked over his paper again.

Remus sighed. "I suppose I'll join you,"

"Remus you don't have to if you don't want to he was-" James started.

"I wouldn't do it if I didn't want to James," Remus cut him off. "I was going to take Ancient Runes anyway, as for Divination I was considering it and, Muggle Studies, Lily is right in saying it would be interesting to learn from a Wizarding perspective."

James turned to ask Peter what classes he was taking and saw that he too had marked the same ones that they had.

"Brilliant!" James said, clapping his hands together.

"That we're going along with you to stalk Evans during the school day?" Sirius asked.

"Yup," James responding, popping the "P". He stood up.

"We are such enablers." Remus told Sirius who nodded in agreement.

"So now what?" James asked, changing the subject. "I don't feel like doing any other homework, it's Friday and not even Eight o'clock, what are the Marauders to do?"

Sirius's eyes glinted mischievously. "Well Tenebrae was pretty annoying today…"

James clapped his hands together. "Excellent."

"But isn't Tenebrae _dangerous_." Peter asked.

"Peter has a point, he is a Death Eater." Remus commented. "Did your dad ever respond to our letter?"

After overhearing Tenebrae in the forest James had owled his father telling him what they heard. His father had responded with what James had expected. "Tenebrae may not be nice, but that doesn't make him a Death Eater" "Do _not_ under any circumstances investigate further." James had sent a follow up owl despite his father telling him not to which had gained him the short response "I'll look into it." Which James knew was his father's way of humoring him.

"Yeah but he doesn't believe us." James responded glumly.

"But that doesn't mean Tenebrae isn't dangerous." Remus pointed out.

"So what do we do?" Sirius asked.

"Maybe we should listen to Mr. Potter." Remus suggested.

"I guess," James said, though he wasn't sure. Tenebrae was a Death Eater, of this he was certain, but despite the danger, if they spied on him they might be able to get information to the Aurors. "I wish we could get our map to work, then we could just see where he's going."

Since they had started the map they hadn't been able to do more than get the area around them onto paper. The spell seemed to have a rather large range, but all they had were different pieces of paper with different parts of the school printed on them. They had no way to connect the papers and form a map, let alone get the map to show the positions of the people of Hogwarts at any given time.

"I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon." Remus told him.

"Why do you have to be so pessimistic Moony?" Sirius asked, his head lolling over the arm of the couch he was sprawled across.

"I'm not being pessimistic I'm being realistic," Remus responded at the same time as James said, "Big word Siri, don't hurt yourself."

Sirius aimed a kick at James, but the bespectacled boy was out of his range. Remus continued a smile on his face as a result of James's comment.

"Anyway, we don't know anything about what we're trying to do, something that you guys seem to enjoy doing often." He gave James a significant look that obviously meant he was suggesting their plan to become Anamagi. "We're still doing pretty basic stuff in Transfiguration and Charms, and you guys may be smart but this is stuff that most adults don't know how to do."

James knew that Remus was talking about both the map and the plan to become Anamagi.

"You worry too much, we'll learn," Sirius responded, though James was unsure if his friend had detected the double meaning.

James didn't add his input and Remus sighed. Peter looked uncomfortable, and stared at the same portion in his book during the conversation. There was a tense moment that passed. James changed the subject.

"So I still vote we do something, you guys up for learning you-know what?"

Sirius yawned. "Not today mate, I'm exhausted."

Peter looked relieved and Remus remained expressionless.

"Wanna look at the stuff you stole-" James stared.

"Borrowed," Sirius corrected.

"Borrowed from Filch's office?" James finished.

Sirius yawned again. "Alright, you guys coming?"

Peter nodded and packed up his books, Remus looked at James. "What about the rest of your homework?"

James waved him off. "That's what lunch is for," He smirked.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Alright, let's go."

The foursome walked upstairs to their dorms, which were empty. Frank must've been in the Library, James thought, as he hadn't been in the common room last time James checked.

Sirius lay down on his stomach and stuck his hand under the bed, grabbing at a sack and pulling it out. He dumped the contents on his bed. The fang necklace, chimera statue, pair of square mirrors, and Fanged Frisbee flee out. The four boys all shot a glace at the curtains, where the last thing from the drawer was, a doxy. It had been immobilized until it had been touched by Peter and now it lived in one of their curtains. The Fanged Frisbee hovered a couple of inches over the bed.

Peter stood at the back of the group, obviously not wanting to get attacked by something else. James reached for the chimera statue and looked it over. He knew that it was extraordinarily detailed, as if a living chimera had been shrunk and turned to stone. He shuddered a little and placed it down, not sure if he was far from the truth.

Remus had been examining the fang necklace but hadn't found anything of particular interest before putting it back on the bed. Sirius held one of the two mirrors in his hand and looked into it, his own reflection staring back at him.

"What's so special about these mirrors?" He asked no one in particular.

James picked up the mirror's twin and looked into it, seeing a mop of messy hair and a pair of glasses over hazel eyes; his face.

"No idea." James responded, still looking into his mirror. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at the mirror. "_Aparecium,_" The mirror didn't appear to change for a moment, and then James's reflection shimmered and shifted into that of Sirius.

Sirius dropped his mirror in surprise, and it landed on his bed without a sound. He scooped it back up and looked into it, James's face looking back at him. "Whoa," he said.

Sirius's voice echoed in the room, as though he had said it a second time a second later. James grinned madly. "No way: a two-way mirror!"

This time, James's voice echoed. Still grinning, James ran out of the dorm with the mirror. He walked into the common room and held the mirror back up to his face.

"Hey," James spoke to the mirror which still showed the face of his best friend.

"Brilliant!" Sirius said loudly. James grinned like and idiot and kept looking at the mirror as Remus and Peter squeezed into the picture.

"You carry a mirror around?" Lily asked him incredulously, appearing in front of him. James jumped back in surprise and shoved the square mirror into his pocket, muffling his friends' call of "Hey!"

"No it's Sirius's," James responded quickly, running his hand through his hair and making it even messier.

"Sure it is," Lily replied with a smirk, the tone of her voice showing she obviously didn't believe him.

"Do I look like I'd carry a mirror around with me?" James asked her, gesturing to his hair which was currently sticking out in several different directions.

"I suppose not," She answered suppressing a smile. "Maybe you should, a comb too."

James scoffed. "Like that'll happen. I've had enough combs caught in my hair for a lifetime.

Lily laughed at the mental image. James heard Sirius's muffled whoop and realized his friends were listening in on his conversation. The thought made his cheeks turn a little red.

James fake yawned. "I'm gonna head to bed, see you in the morning Evans,"

"See you Potter."

James walked up the first couple of steps and then practically ran the rest, until he pushed open the door to his room. Sirius was smirking at him unabashedly while Remus hid his face in a book and Peter looked out the window.

"That was private!" James said indignantly.

"Apparently not,"

"How do you turn these off?" James asked, pulling out the mirror. Sirius's face still looked back at him.

"You could charm them to respond to voice commands," Remus suggested from behind his book.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you, I know you were listening," James called back at him. He pulled out his wand and muttered a few spells under his breath, Sirius did similarly with his.

"Off," He said clearly. The reflection shifted back to his own.

"Well at least you didn't say anything too stupid," Remus responded. "Or get into a fight."

"I was kind of hoping for one. Good entertainment, y'know," Sirius added. James threw a pillow at him.

**A/N: I can't apologize enough for taking over a month to update, but I am continuing this. I know this was a fluff chapter but we're coming up to some stuff I've been really looking forward to writing and I hope you will enjoy. I promise the next update will be sooner. **

**PS Review, they inspire me to write.**


	24. The Quidditch Final

24. The Quidditch Final

James and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team had thought that life might be a little easier now that Dorcas and Edgar were dating. Their hope was that their captain might end practices earlier or not work them as hard. They had been wrong.

"Again!" Dorcas Meadows shouted, bringing James from his stupor. Dorcas had spent much of this practice focusing on the Chasers. She had wanted them to master the Hawkshead Attacking formation, Porskoff Ploy, and Reverse Pass by the end of the session. Edgar, Fabian, and Gideon were supposed to be working independently but one of the twins managed to smuggle an Exploding Snap deck and they were all relaxing on the field.

James sighed and looked back to Max and Annebeth. Max flew upward and then dropped the Quaffle to Annebeth who threw it over her shoulder to James. James then was to fly over Max and drop it to him so he could throw it over his shoulder to Annebeth. Dorcas had thought it to be a great way to practice the Porskoff Ploy and Reverse Pass and James had agreed. That is, before they spent an hour doing it nonstop.

James heard Fabian, Gideon, and Edgar laugh loudly. With a mutter of "favoritism" he caught the Quaffle and threw it over his shoulder.

"Captain can we try something else?" James asked carefully, afraid that he would have to go do something extra for asking.

Dorcas seemed to consider it for a second. "Alright, if you guys can score on me three times, you can take a break."

James grinned from ear to ear and looked to Max and Annebeth who were high-fiving.

Dorcas flew to the goals and James, Max, and Annebeth huddled together.

"Right, so how are we gonna do this?" James asked.

"We could fake her out, aim right then shoot for the left or center." Max suggested.

They decided to try it and spread out, Max passing the Quaffle to James who flew up towards Dorcas, looking as if he was going to strike, at the last second he threw the Quaffle over his shoulder to Annebeth who caught it and threw it in the opposite direction, causing the red ball to soar through the leftmost hoop.

"That's one," Dorcas reminded them as they cheered. She tossed James the Quaffle and he flew back to center field with his fellow Chasers.

This time, James flew low, the tips of his feet skimming the grass. He looped up into the sky and then dived down in front of Max, who he pretended to pass it to. James then flew back as Max, faking possession of the Quaffle, flew towards Dorcas. James and Annebeth, who Dorcas were ignoring, flew towards the right, James passing it to Annebeth who threw it towards the center hoop. At the last second, Dorcas dived in front of the Quaffle and deflected it with her fingertips before continuing to zoom to the right. Max caught the deflected ball and threw it into the left hoop easily.

"Two," Dorcas said her face a mixture of pride at the skill of her Chasers and determination to block their next attack. "And you can't discuss tactics this time."

James, Max and Annebeth nodded. They separated, Annebeth starting with the Quaffle. She flew straight at the goal post, James and Max flanking her. Dorcas steeled herself to save the ball. Then, James flew down and Max up and forward. Annebeth tossed the Quaffle to Max who made to shoot and then dropped the ball directly below to James, who Dorcas hadn't seen. James then shot up with lightning speed, directly behind Dorcas and put the hand that was holding the Quaffle through the hoop, a smirk on his face at the bewildered look of his Captain.

Max and Annebeth cheered and high fived and James did loop-de-loops.

Dorcas laughed. "Alright, you guys are done for today."

James whooped and then turned his broom around and dived towards the ground, right where Fabian, Gideon, and Edgar were building a tower out of Exploding Sanp cards. James flew just over the structure just fast enough as to cause some wind in his wake, and the sound of an explosion and cursing let him know that he had succeeded. He turned around to see Fabian and Gideon with singed red hair and little remaining eyebrows and Edgar in not as bad shape having jumped back at the last second.

James turned to face them grinning.

"Don't look so smiley, we'll get you back," Fabian told him, partially joking and partially serious.

"Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow…" Gideon let the sentence hang in the air.

"Or," James suggested. "We could take it out on the Slytherins."

The twins considered. "Maybe," Gideon told him.

"We'll think about it."

James laughed again and headed to the changing rooms. He was wearing a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, not his robes, so he didn't need to change. He wanted to get away from the Pitch as fast as he could, though he loved it dearly, before Dorcas changed her mind.

He jogged out of the changing rooms through the back and into the castle. James then slowed to a walk, lost in thought. The Quidditch Final was in less than a week, Gryffindor vs Slytherin, which was part of the reason James wanted to take advantage of the rare and unexpected treat of being let out of practice early.

James continued walking when he past an empty classroom. Or rather, what appeared to be an empty classroom? However he heard voices coming from it. He realized he was in the Defense Against the Dark Arts area and immediately decided to listen in.

"Potter caught Dolohov a few hours ago," James heard one voice say, a voice he had only heard once before; in the forest a few weeks ago. Tenebrae's boss.

"How?" Tenebrae's voice questioned.

"He ambushed us, took out Dolohov early and ended up dueling me. We both have a few scratches to show for it," Tenebrae's master's voice sounded proud and James's stomach dropped. Was his father okay?

"Something must be done about Potter," Tenebrae's master continued.

"Are you suggesting-" Tenebrae started. Suddenly, there was a loud bang. James jumped away from the door and looked up to the ceiling where Peeves was flying around, cackling and dropping dungbombs. James pulled out his wand and cast a shield just in time to block one from hitting him in the face.

Then James ran, turning around the corridor before the door to Tenebrae's office had even opened. He didn't want to get caught listening in or wrongfully accused of causing the mayhem.

* * *

><p><em>Dad,<em>

_ I heard Tenebrae talk about you with someone. They said you captured Dolohov and that they needed to get rid of you. I know you don't believe me, and you should, but just be careful because I _know_ that Tenebrae is a Death Eater._

_ James_

_PS The Quidditch Final's this weekend. Wish me luck!_

* * *

><p>The <em>Daily Prophet<em> the morning of the Quidditch Final read: _Antonin Dolohov Not Guilty_. The article spoke of Dolohov's release from custody after a brief trial in which he was "proven" innocent. There was also some bashing of Harold Potter, the Auror who had been in charge of the mission to capture and arrest Dolohov, saying he jumped to conclusions based on evidence that was not strong enough to hold the alleged Death Eater. James's father had refused to comment.

James didn't see this article, however. Remus, the only member of their group to receive the _Daily Prophet_, thought it best not to show James this, just moments before the most important game of Quidditch he ever played.

James didn't pay Remus or the paper any attention. When he had entered the Great Hall there had been cheers from the Gryffindor table and boos from the Slytherin table. Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students seemed more split.

He had sat down next to Sirius and attempted to eat something, managing half a waffle with some urging from Sirius and Remus. James didn't speak much during that time. He had a smile plastered on his face that didn't reach his eyes and his stomach was doing cartwheels. People wished him luck and patted him on the back and he responded with false confidence.

James saw his teammates spread throughout the table. Dorcas was staring at her food and Edgar, who seemed completely calm, was urging her to eat in between bites of toast. Fabian and Gideon were telling jokes to break the silence that fell over them every couple of minute. Max and Annebeth weren't too far away from each other but they were caught up talking to their friends, Annebeth not able to eat a thing and Max eating double what he normally did.

After what felt like forever to James Dorcas stood up and said, "Changing rooms,"

James stood up and nodded to the good lucks his friends wished him and joined his teammates. The Gryffindor table cheered again and the Slytherins booed and, just as they left the Great Hall James saw the Slytherin team get up as well.

They entered the changing rooms and climbed into their scarlet and gold Quidditch robes without a word. All of the Gryffindor team but Dorcas sat down and waited for her speech.

"Right," Dorcas started when they were all looking at her. "This is our last game of the season, for better or for worse. We have a great team and we are going to win." The last part of the statement seemed almost a threat to James but he figured he was exaggerating.

The cheers and boos from the stand let James and the rest of the team know that the Slytherins had stepped onto the field. Dorcas gave them one last look, had an internal debate that was clearly visible in her eyes, probably last minute tips, and then decided against it. She nodded to them and said, "Let's kick some Slytherin ass."

They cheered as they grabbed their brooms and exited the changing rooms, stepping onto the field. The crowd of red and gold clad students cheered as did a good amount from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

"Now I want a nice fair game," Madam Hooch said, looking to both sides. The fourteen students nodded. "Captains, shake."

Dorcas stepped up and put her hand out to Lucius who looked at it as if it was the most disgusting thing he'd ever seen before clasping it briefly. Both Captains returned to standing before their teams.

Madam Hooch freed the bludgers and Snitch. Then she kicked off the ground, making James have to squint over the glare of the sun. She threw the Quaffle into the air and blew the whistle.

Suddenly, James ceased to think and his nerves left him. He kicked off the ground and shot into the air, just under Lucius; who had snatched the ball out of the air less than a second earlier. James flew to his opponent's right and launched his hand out, punching the Quaffle from underneath the Slytherin Captain's arm and to Max, who, unseen, had been flying underneath and to the left of Lucius.

Max turned around and zoomed forward while James covered Lucius, keeping the Slytherin from following. Annebeth flanked Max and protected him as he flew to the Slytherin hoops. He launched the ball to the left and the Keeper just blocked it, deflecting the Quaffle with the tip of his broomstick. Annebeth caught the rebound and tossed the ball neatly into the right hoop.

_10-0_ James thought to himself. He remembered hearing Dorcas talk to Edgar.

"We're forty points behind Slytherin for the Cup so you can't catch the Snitch until we're fifty points up. If you catch the Snitch before we're fifty points up we win the game but loose the Cup."

"I know Dorcas, you've already told me eight times this morning."

James shook his head to regain focus. One of the Slytherins had the Quaffle, James didn't know, or care, who it was, he just shot after him. He saw Annebeth dodge a bludger behind him. The Slytherin Chaser made to pass to Lucius but, as the Quaffle made an arc in the air, James cut off, grabbing it at the zenith of its path and then flying away before either of his opponents could follow. He approached the Slytherin goals and flew aimed for the center goal. Them, making a motion as if to score, he tossed the ball directly behind him to Annebeth, who feigned left and then dropped the ball to Max, who flew up and sank it into the right hoop.

_Up 20_. James saw Edgar do a loop de loop in celebration of the goal. The Keeper threw the ball to one of the Slytherin Chasers, embarrassment at having let Gryffindor score twice in such a short timeframe evident on his face.

The Slytherin Chasers managed to get to Dorcas for the first time of the game and the sixth year looked determined to block the offense at any cost. The Slytherin with the Quaffle, a fifth year James didn't know, feigned right and threw the ball towards the center hoop where Dorcas easily caught it. She passed it to Max who flew down the Pitch to the Slytherin side unguarded, James and Annebeth covering Lucius and the fifth year, Fabian hitting a bludger at Lucius, and Gideon keeping an eye on Edgar. Avery took advantage of that, slamming a bludger with such force that max was unable to dodge it. The black ball slammed into his arm and James could've sworn he heard something crack. Max dropped the Quaffle but quickly reclaimed it with his left hand, a steeled grimace on his face, his lip trapped under his teeth and an unshed tear in his eye. Max continued on and managed to score, bringing the score to 30 to zip.

The Slytherins fought back. Lucius took the Quaffle towards the Gryffindor side, passing it to one of his fellow Chasers a bludger by Muciber managed to distract Dorcas enough to allow the Slytherins to score for the first time that game. 30-10

"Max! Are you all right?" James flew up beside his fellow Chaser in the air.

"I'm fine," Max told him though the way he held his arm and the look on his face told a different story. "I'll see Madam Pomfrey after the game and she'll patch me up."

James nodded, even though he still worried about his teammate. Max seemed to hide the pain very well, showing great prowess with his left arm despite his dominant arm unable to play. Max assisted both Annebeth and James in scoring again and managed a goal himself. They were fifty points up.

James looked for Edgar who was, whether by chance or design James didn't know, racing after the Snitch, the Slytherin Seeker on his tail. James watched Edgar dodge bludgers and race for the Snitch, reaching out just after it darted away.

Suddenly there was a cheer from the Slytherin area of the stands. James panicked but neither Seeker had caught the Snitch. That could only mean-

Dorcas held the Quaffle she had just recovered, shame on her face. James and Annebeth raced towards her, waving their arms to get her to pass the red ball. Edgar hadn't noticed the Slytherin goal and if he caught it-

James shook his head, cutting off the thoughts as Dorcas threw him the Quaffle. Annebeth flew at his side and James kept glancing back. The bludgers were being concentrated on the Seekers and Max, who was now in enough pain he could no longer throw the ball, was trying to keep the Slytherins busy. James saw Edgar, the Seeker was nearing the Snitch, and they had only moments until it was caught.

James knew they would never make it to the goals in time. Suddenly, an idea struck him.

"Annebeth!" He practically shoved the Quaffle into her and then held out his hand. Annebeth understood what he meant but looked doubtful. James didn't care. He grasped her hand and speed up on his broom. Edgar was seconds from grabbing the Snitch.

Then, with all the strength he could muster, he launched Annebeth at the Slytherin goal posts, Annebeth holding onto her broom with both hands, the Quaffle between her knees. She flew across the remainder of the field, barely slowing, the broom, now going faster then she had ever rode it in her life and, miraculously, staying just as fast as it had been when James had first launched her. She couldn't stop and so she prepared herself, ducking her head and hunching her back and shooting like an arrow directly at the center hoop. The Slytherin Keeper moved in front of the goal to stop her, not looking as if he would move.

Annebeth continued anyway, flying towards the goal, her momentum and broom propelling her. She braced for impact with the Keeper that didn't come. He had moved. Annebeth soared through the hoop less than a second before Edgar finally wrapped his fist around the Golden Snitch. They had won the Quidditch Cup!

James watched Annebeth pull up and slow her speed after a couple of loop de loops, flying along with the rest of the team to Edgar, the Gryffindor Quidditch team hugged each other around Edgar and Dorcas, who were snogging passionately.

Dumbledore met the flying mass of the Gryffindor team as they landed his smile wide and his hand raised, holding his wand and floating the Silver Quidditch cup to Dorcas Meadows, who had released Edgar and was sobbing in happiness. James saw McGonagall wiping a tear from her eye and smirking at Slughorn, who was pouting. James saw his friends among the mass of Gryffindors screaming their heads off at the victory and continued to cheer with them. He looked to Max and Annie and, to his surprise; he saw they too were wrapped together, causing a number of wolf-whistles.

James laughed. "About time mate!"

The Gryffindor team dismounted and, in the case of the two couples, separated to stand next to the Quidditch Cup. A flash of light caught them smiling from ear to ear, some laughing, some with tears in their eyes, the moment now eternalized. It was one of the best moments in James's Hogwarts career yet.

* * *

><p>The party was in full swing. There was music and dancing and more than enough food (Sirius and Peter had made runs to the Kitchens and to Honeydukes). James was currently leaning against a wall near one of the windows, outside the mass of celebrating people. Every once in a while he saw Annebeth and Max, who was wearing a sling, dancing and talking and snogging. James smiled. He was happy for them, especially since he had beat that they would get together before the end of this year against Fabian, who thought next year, and Gideon, who thought year after next. James felt the galleons jingle in his pockets.<p>

He had admirers. Before, with their previous Quidditch victories, people had gained some interest in him, the second year Gryffindor Chaser. With each win people saw his skill at least match that of the other players and now there had already been a couple sets of third year and first year girls coming to talk to him. None in second year, and none whom he actually wanted to talk to.

James had seen Lily briefly after they won; somewhere in the mass of people her red hair was easy to spot from above. Now he couldn't see it though, James wasn't even sure she was at the party.

Sirius was god knows where, Peter was without a doubt by the snacks, and James was pretty sure Remus had retreated to their dorm. So James stood, alone and content, celebrating the victory quietly, a smile on his face he couldn't shake and the game constantly replaying in his head.

He saw red hair. It was Lily, on the other side of the common room. He waved to her and she waved back with a smile. James wanted to go talk to her but there was no way to make it to her side of the room. Plus, she had already turned away.

James sighed. Then he shook his head, getting rid of any negative thoughts. She _had_ waved to him, even smiled; she wasn't mad, not that she had a reason to be. He could talk to her tomorrow.

The room started to feel crowded to James. He was close enough to the portrait hole that he was able to make his way along the wall and push the door open, stepping out of the filled common room and into the cool corridors of the castle.

James walked through the hallways aimlessly. It was probably past curfew, He didn't feel like checking his watch, but he continued to walk through the castle, relishing in the cool air and open space and silence. Eventually he was around the Entrance Hall, and decided to go to the Quidditch Pitch. He pushed the doors to the castle open and walked onto the grass.

The Whomping Willow smacked a bird out of the sky, the moon was a perfect half, shining light one the grass and giving it that green color it only ever gets at night. The stars shined bright and there was the occasional cool almost-summer, night breeze that ruffled the leaves on the trees as much as it ruffled his hair.

James walked to the broom cupboard and grabbed his broom with a smile. He mounted it and kicked off the ground, glad to be able to fly for relaxation for a change. He fly quietly and gently around, a constant, not-to-fast speed circling the Pitch, and eventually the castle and grounds and forest. He flew just out of the Willow's range, its branches trying to hit him in vain.

James did this for a while and decided it was about time he should be heading back. He dismounted and put his broom away, closing the cupboard behind him as he stretched and yawned, his eyes closed.

He opened them for a second and saw the beautiful, quiet, almost still night,

Then everything went dark.

**A/N: Here's another chapter, only four days after the last! I'm planning on getting back into that at least one chapter a week schedule. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope to update soon. Please review though, I was going to stop writing for the day, this chapter unfinished, but then I got a review from InventoroftheFirebolt and decided to finish the chapter up before I went to bed. (My NaNo went well thnx, I got to 50082)**

** Thanks for reading!**


	25. Abduction

25. Abduction

Sirius pushed his way through the crowd, looking for the messy mane of his best friend's hair. Blond, black, brown, straight, curly, but not that distinct Potter messiness. He had just heard the most hilarious story about-

Red hair. He ran into Lily.

"Hey!" Sirius yelled over the noise of the party. "Have you seen James?"

Lily shook her head and screamed back, "Not for a while! I saw him earlier but haven't since!"

Sirius nodded and left her, managing to make his way to the entrance of the boy's dorms. He climbed the stairs to the second year dorm and pushed the door open. Inside Remus was talking with Frank about the coming Defense Against the Dark Arts exam.

"Have you guys seen James?" Sirius asked, his voice a little louder than necessary having just come from the party.

Frank shook his head and Remus said no.

Sirius made a frustrated noise and went into the bathroom. He reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a square mirror.

"James Potter," He said clearly.

The inside of a pocket appeared on the glass, the faintest hints of light coming through the worn denim. He heard the noises of things being moved around and the murmuring of someone, not James, talking to themselves.

Suddenly, the image moved the light coming through the pants pocket changed, as though turned away from whatever light source was in the room. There was a murmured spell, Sirius couldn't identify it, and then the picture was still again, a little light coming through again.

"James?"

No answer.

"James?" Sirius asked, a little, not much, louder.

No answer.

At that point Sirius was worried. He didn't know where James was but why wouldn't he answer? He would recognize Sirius's voice, if he had been awake that is. However, the only voice Sirius heard from the other end of the room was that of an adult, definitely a man, who had a probably unconscious James.

Sirius stuffed the mirror back into his pocket without breaking the connection and left the bathroom. Frank and Remus looked up and their faces shifted to match his.

Something had happened to James.

* * *

><p>James was dreaming.<p>

_He was at Hogwarts but something was wrong. There were no people in the Great Hall. There were no house tables, no Head table. The candles that usually hung were gone and the ceiling that showed the heavens was dark and grey like the floor of a basement. The edges of the hall were blurry, as if he was seeing them without his glasses. _

_ Then, the ceiling burst, a flood of water raining down on him, it kept coming, and James couldn't breath until-_

He was gasping from breath, taking huge gulps of air. His eyes were closed and his hair was soaked, covering up to his eyes. James flipped his hair up and opened his eyes, and regretted it immediately, the harsh light too much for him. He became aware that he was tied up. And that he wasn't alone.

Next to him, in a separate chair and no more than a couple meters away from him was a woman with graying red hair and warm hazel eyes magnified by tears. She was looking at him and sobbing and, with her looking so weak, so fragile; James didn't recognize her for a second: It was his mother.

"M-m-mum?" James asked, confused and shivering from the blasts of cold water.

His mother continued to sob and nodded. James looked at the man in front of him, who had watched the whole exchange delightedly, feeding off the misery of the two people in front of him.

It was Tenebrae.

"Tenebrae," James growled a sound he hadn't even been aware he could make. He tried to lunge out but remembered he was tied up.

"Hello James, lovely job at the Final I must say, though I was a tad disappointed that Slytherin didn't take the Cup." Tenebrae smiled at him. James stared at him defiantly.

"What have you done to her?" James demanded an answer. He had never seen his mother like this, so… broken.

Tenebrae laughed. "I simply had a little fun with her. Just like I did with you at Christmas," Tenbrae paused letting the information sink in. _He _had been the one to torture James with the Cruciatus curse. James glared at him.

"Why?" James asked, despite the situation, curious. He also knew it was always better to keep people talking, it worked wonders on teachers, get them distracted and they forget entirely that their cross and they don't remember until you're gone.

"Well, your dear father has been causing too much trouble for us. We had thought that attacking his home might get him to back down, but it seems that his bigheadedness has kept him from doing so." Tenebrae smiled. "Like father like son."

James smiled, taking that as a complement.

"Anyway, we figured that we'd take matters further. We've had this plan ready for months, just in case Harold Potter continued to be a nuisance. There have been people ready to take the both of you at a moments notice and, when the time was right, we acted on those plans."

"And now we wait. We've alerted Potter to the fact that his family is at our mercy and if he doesn't comply, we'll kill you."

James didn't respond to that.

"But in the meantime, I can have some fun. You've been quite a thorn in my side this year Potter, now I get to return the favor." He holds up his wand and aims it not at James, but at his mother.

"_Crucio!_"

"MUM!" James yelled. His mother thrashed within her bounds, her mouth open in a silent scream, her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and her body contorting in ways that shouldn't be possible.

Tenebrae lifted his wand and broke the curse. Elizabeth Potter was barely conscious, her head lolling to the right, her eyes closed and her breathing heavy.

James opened his mouth to yell but Tenebrae flicked his wand and a band wrapped around his mouth, making his words unidentifiable. Tenebrae laughed and sounded, to James, truly evil. The Death Eater lifted his wand again.

"MMMMMPH!" James yelled.

"_Crucio!_" His mother started thrashing and contorting all over again and this time her screams weren't silent. They rang around the room, echoing mixing with Tenbrae's cruel laugh and James's muffled yells. He shook in the chair and thrashed his head, trying to free himself from his restraints to no avail. Not that it would have mattered; his pockets were empty, except for a square something in his-

The Mirror! It was in his pocket. If he could contact Sirius he would be able to contact James's father. They could find them.

The curse faded and James's Mom was crying and mumbling incoherently. James realized he too was crying; only his tears were those of rage. The cloth around his mouth fell to his neck.

"I am going to kill you," James said quietly, deadly seriously. He looked Tenebrae in the eyes and stared at the man. He laughed.

"You couldn't kill me _boy_, even if I was at your mercy. You're too weak!" Tenebrae moved closer to James and smacked him. James's chair fell to the side at the force of the hit. His bounds became looser.

"You're sick Tenebrae. You beat up children and people who are defenseless. Sirius Black as a child, me now, my mother, with her hands tied behind her back. She would have destroyed you in a duel." James said Sirius's name loudly, hoping to activate the mirror.

Tenebrae kicked James, who was still on the floor, his left cheek on the cool concrete. He felt a rib crack.

"And you realize you aren't going to get away with this don't you? Even if you kill us, you'll be caught; the Ministry will catch you in an instant."

"You fool, my master will protect me, and the Ministry will fall. Times are changing Potter, and your family has chosen the wrong side. You will die."

"If I'm to die, could you at least tell me where?"

"Knockturn Alley," Tenebrae responded in his arrogance.

"Shame, I was hoping for a nice countryside." James deadpanned. "Godric's Hallow's nice this time of year."

Tenebrae kicked him again. James's chair skidded into the wall at the end of the room. The rope around his waste was coming loose, as was the rope that bound his hands. He coughed and a little blood came out of his mouth.

"I've dreamed of this all year. Arrogant, smart-arse Potter bloody and beaten. Maybe I should kill you now. It would go against the plan but it would be so-" James cut him off by grabbing his legs out from under him with the hands he had just freed from their bounds. He stood up and kicked the wand out of his teacher's hand, sending it skidding across the floor.

Tenbrae screamed in fury and pain, getting to his feet and lunging at James. James jumped to the side and stuck out his foot, causing Tenebrae to trip again. James's eyes searched the ground for his Defense teacher's wand and saw it lying on the floor. James ran towards it and scooped it up. He gripped the wand for only a second before he was kicked with such force he was flung back and the wand fell from his hand.

The wooden stick lay on the floor in between them, and James knew instantaneously that Tenebrae would beat him to the wand. James looked to his mother, whose hair was now all grey, almost white, and was unconscious. He had lost.

Tenebrae made his way towards the wand and James started running towards it as well. He wasn't going down without a fight.

But before James could make it even within a few feet of the wand Tenebrae had it. The man held it over his head triumphantly and then pointed it a James, a crazed look in his eye. James looked around the room he was going to die in and refused to close his eyes. He looked Tenebrae in the eye defiantly and opened his arms; an invitation.

Then suddenly the door was burst open. Half a dozen Aurors burst into the room, wands pointed at Tenebrae. Harold Potter was among them, his robes billowing around him and his face a mask of rage James had never seen. James had a sudden appreciation of his father's strength and understood why he was the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Tenebrae's eyes darted back and forth, calculating. He made as if he was going to put his wand down and surrender. Then his right hand grabbed at his left wrist, at the watch he had been wearing over his robes, and suddenly, he was gone.

Harold Potter sighed. "Portkey," he muttered. Then he spotted James, hair soaked, with cuts and bruises all over and blood on his face. James and his father embraced and a couple of the other Aurors went to the side of his mother.

At the sight of his unconscious wife, Harold left James in the care of one of the Aurors, a young man named Kingsley Shacklebolt.

Kingsley brought James to St. Mungos. They got a room and he was patched up fairly quickly, Kingsley asking him questions and getting James to regale the whole story.

"Is my mother going to be okay?" James asked Kingsley at one point, wanting to get an answer. His mother had been taken to the Hospital before James had arrived but he hadn't been allowed to see her as of yet.

Kingsley paused before answering. "Your mother was among my most influential teachers during my training as an Auror. She is strong and one of the most intelligent and capable witches I have ever met. I have little doubt that she won't make a full recovery. I've seen and heard of her survive many worse situations."

James wasn't convinced, despite the conviction that the Auror spoke with. "I'd like to go to sleep now." James told him. Kingsley nodded and left the room, though James could see that he stood outside of James's room.

James sighed and lay back on his bed. Then, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the square mirror.

"Sirius Black,"

The image shifted from James's tired looking face to the worried one of Sirius.

"James!" Sirius said happily. Remus and Peter squeezed their way into the picture, and after some fighting over the mirror, it was placed so James could see all three of them.

"Where are you?" Remus asked him.

"St. Mungos, but not for me, for my Mum," James answered quietly. "She was put under the Cruciatus curse. The Healers are working on her now, but she took a lot, and I only saw a few minutes of it."

None of his friends said anything. "Do you have any idea when you're coming back?"

James shook his head. "On the bright side, I don't think we're going to have a Defends Against the Dark Arts exam this year."

Sirius laughed. "I guess not."

They stayed silent for a while. Then James said, "I assume you were the anonymous tip."

Sirius nodded proudly. "I was all for taking the glory but Remus pointed out that then the mirrors wouldn't be a secret anymore."

James nodded, agreeing with his friend's logic. "I wasn't sure my saying your name was going to activate your mirror,"

Sirius shrugged. "It might have, but I had tried to contact you with it a little before you woke up so we were already listening in, waiting for something to give away where you were. Nice job with that by the way."

"Thanks guys,"

They waved off his thanks and then he hung up, lying back in his bed and closing his eyes. Almost instantaneously, the exhaustion of the past few hours kicked in and he gladly let the oblivion of sleep envelop him, briefly grateful for the Healer who had given him a Draught for Dreamless Sleep.

**A/N: Told you I'd update again before the end of the week. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. This story is coming to a close, two, maybe three chapters left. Thank you for all of the reviews and more would never hurt. Every time I read a review I get inspired to write so please keep them coming.**


	26. Aftermath

26. Aftermath

James returned to Hogwarts within a few of days of being kidnapped. People spoke about him in hushed voices and stopped speaking abruptly when he walked past them. News had spread pretty quickly about his kidnapping and Tenebrae's escape, it had been a front page story of the _Prophet_ for a couple successive days. James, who had already started to become more known among the older students in the school, was now one of the most spoken about student at Hogwarts.

For the most part though, James ignored it. He had other things on his mind. The main reason he had been able to miss half a week of school, other than because the Healers were afraid he would have some type of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, was because of his mother's condition. Though James hadn't been allowed to see her in the first couple of days, while the Healers were still working on her, a couple of days after they had been abducted James was able to see his mother.

He didn't recognize her. Plain and simple, she didn't look like his mother. The woman lying on the hospital bed had all grey, almost white hair, and dark circles around her eyes. She seemed ears older, frail, weak, and not at all as James was used to seeing her. At her bedside sat half a dozen vials of multicolored, steaming potions, the odors of which filled the room.

"Mum?" James approached her bed carefully, taking the seat next to his father and grasping his mother's right hand.

"Hullo James," She responded, her voice hoarse. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine Mum," James told her, almost laughing at the ridiculousness of his bedridden mother, who was only a couple of days ago in critical condition, asking if he, who had taken little damage, was alright. "How are you feeling?"

"Oh I'm fine," She replied, smiling at him, a smile that looked more like that of a grandmother than of his Mum. There was a momentary flash of pain across her face but it cleared away as soon as it arrived.

James looked at her worried and she told him, "It's fine; I just have a little headache is all. One of those potions should fix that though."

James nodded. His mother continued to smile at him.

"I'm so proud of you James; the way you tackled Tenebrae… that was very brave. Very stupid, but very brave. And that action may have saved my life."

James made to protest but she shushed him and gripped his hand tighter. He gripped her hand back and they sat there for what might have been a moment or an hour before James was told he had to leave the room so his mother could have her medicine administered to her.

Before he had been able to see her, James had overheard healers talking about his mother, back when her situation had been critical (_Had it really been only a few days?_). He had heard one Healer say that it was a fifty/fifty chance. A fifty/fifty chance of his mother surviving, and that wasn't even factoring in survival with brain damage or any other side effects. James had felt sick.

It had ended up working out, but even as James sat in his first class since the incident, Transfiguration, the memories came back, the worry, the fear that his mother might not be there when James returned home for the summer holidays in a couple of weeks.

"Mr. Potter?" He heard a voice call him from far away.

"Mr. Potter?" The voice was still far away.

"James?" The voice was gentler. A hand rested on his shoulder and James snapped out of it. He saw Professor McGonagall standing over him, a worried look on her face.

"Yes Professor?" James asked.

"Have you been able to change your rabbit into slippers?" She asked him. They were reviewing for their exam, which was in less than a week, and going through all of the spells they had learned that year.

James pointed his wand at his rabbit and said, "_Crepida,_" The fluffy white bunny morphed into a pair of just as white and fluffy slippers.

McGonagall nodded and moved on, watching Peter screw up his face and turn his bunny halfway into a slipper, leaving the head turning from side to side and the nose sniffing its surroundings.

The bell rang and James stuffed his stuff into his bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"Mr. Potter, a word please," Professor McGonagall called to him. James sighed and turned away from his friends, walking back towards the teacher.

"Yes Professor?"

"Your mother and I have been-" McGonagall began. James made an audible noise of irritation and impatience. He was tired of everyone feeling sorry for him, trying to comfort him.

"I know Professor, you are close friends, but I really need to get to Potions, I've been late to Slughorn's class enough this month." James cut her off and dismissed himself, not noticing his teacher's sigh of the single tear rolling down her cheek.

* * *

><p>James walked up the stairs to the dorm room, throwing his bag at the foot of his bed and laying down. He wished for the first time for one of Dorcas's three hour long practices that let his mind think of nothing but Quidditch, but the season was over. No more practices until next year. He sighed.<p>

He was lying down on his bed, face in his pillow and eyes closed. He didn't even notice Sirius, Remus, or Peter enter the dorm.

"James?" Remus asked.

"Mmm?" James's response was muffled by his pillow.

"Can we talk?"

James sighed. "What?" he asked, sitting up and looking at his friend, all three of them standing in front of the closed door to their dorm.

"Well it's just-" Sirius started.

"Just what? Ever since I was kidnapped and watched my mother tortured into near-insanity I've been a little down? A little out of sorts?" James went form zero to sixty in a millisecond, becoming defensive instantaneously.

"We figured you'd want to talk," Peter said quietly.

James looked at him angrily and Peter coward back a little.

"You think I want to talk about it? That's rich coming from you three!" He turned on Sirius. "Do you want to talk about your mental parents? Your brother who was put in Slytherin at the beginning of the school year? I don't recall you being so eager to talk then!" He turned to Remus. "And what about you? Do you want to talk about how you attack yourself once a month? How you hide the other thirty days out of fear of being judged?" He turned lastly to Peter. "And what about you? Do you want to talk about whatever bloody problems you have? The problems we don't even know because you never _talk_ about them? Do you guys really want to talk?"

James stared at them angrily, waiting for them to respond. Sirius spoke first.

"My parents are mental and my brother's impressionable. So was I. It was my Uncle who talked me out of listening to them. That told me not to believe everything I heard. Reg didn't get that talk."

"I never had friends before you guys. Not for more than a month when I would risk telling them. My father is a drunkard now, guilt-ridden and blaming himself for my condition yet unable to look at me without being disgusted."

"I have an older brother who was always great at magic. He got straight O's on his OWLs and NEWTs and I've never been very good. They don't say it but I know that my parents are disappointed in me. They like him better."

James looked at his best friends, mouth agape and dry. He took a breath. "I never really had problems before this. I was an only child because my parents didn't have me until… later. I watched my Mum, a brilliant, strong, Auror trapped and tortured and broken in front of me. I saw her a couple of days ago and didn't even recognize her. And my dad looks older too, so stressed and worried." James's head had been bent while he was talking and looked back up at his friends.

"Thank you," he told them quietly. His cheeks were tearstained as were those of his best friends.

"Marauders always have each other's backs," Remus told him quietly.

"We're here for you mate," Sirius added. Peter nodded his agreement.

Then, now smiling, James got up and pulled his friends into a group hug. They hugged each other for a little while, and then broke apart, smiling and with wet cheeks. Then, one by one, they went to the bathroom and washed their face.

* * *

><p>Exams flew by in a week of partial, last-minute studying, headaches, sweating, and over-stressed classmates, making James very happy when it was finally over. He and his friends had studied a little, but mostly for the benefit of Peter, who had forgotten a large portion of what they had learned at the beginning of the year.<p>

Despite having wanted to do something, _anything_ to get away from their over-stressed, panicky classmates, ideally playing a prank, Remus had stopped James and Sirius from doing anything for the sake of those who, as he said, "Actually give a damn about their studies."

But with the last exam complete and a week left of do-nothing time at Hogwarts, James was thrilled. He, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had decided to relax by the lake, protected from the sun by the shade of their favorite tree.

"So now what do we do?" Sirius asked, interrupting Remus's reading and James and Peter's rock skipping.

Remus didn't answer, Peter shrugged and James responded with, "Do you have something in mind?"

Sirius smiled devilishly. He reached into his shorts (they weren't wearing robes) and pulled out a pocket-sized moleskin notebook. He opened it up and leafed through the pages, looking for something.

Remus scoffed, shaking his head. "If he put half as much time into his studies…"

Sirius ignored him and continued leafing through the book, finally stopping on one page and tapping on something with a smirk. He handed James the book who quickly skimmed it over.

"When did you come up with this?" James asked, surprised.

"During our prank war I found the spell, but I couldn't do it so I just settled for dungbombs," Sirius responded.

"Well I think this will work out quite nicely," James said mischievously.

**A/N: Here's chapter 26! Probably only one more and then we're on to year three. Thank you for reading and please, please, please, please, please review. Whenever I read a review and know there are people reading this story it encourages me to keep writing. I looked at the story stats and saw that I'm getting around fifty views on every chapter. If even half of those fifty reviewed it would be the greatest thing ever.**


	27. Segue To Summer

27. Segue To Summer

The Great Hall quickly filled with chattering students, everyone entering the room in groups, keeping the people they weren't going to see for a couple of months close to them. The teachers, who were already sitting at this time, smiled as their students filed in. Eventually everyone sat down at their respective tables.

Dumbledore stood. James heard Fabain and Gideon wolf whistle and laughed when their headmaster nodded appreciatively.

"Here we are again, the end of another magical year!" The Headmaster began. "To our seventh years, I would like to wish you good luck with my farewell, but that is for another time. Now we have another matter at hand, The House Cup. In fourth place we have Hufflepuff, with 375 points!" The badgers clapped and cheered politely for themselves. "In third, with 400 points, is Slytherin!" The Slytherin table muttered complaints at coming in third. "In second place, with 415 points, is…" Dumbledore paused. "Ravenclaw!" The Ravenclaw table cheered but not as loud as the Gryffindor table did. The din was so loud the, "And in first, Gryffindor, with 450 points!" was barely heard. James and Sirius high-fived and cheered with their Housemates.

Dumbledore waited patiently for quiet to fall over the Gryffindors. While waiting he flicked his wand and red and gold banners lined themselves on the walls, a large banner featuring a golden Gryffindor lion on a red backdrop fell in front of the windows behind the head table.

"Well done to all of you, and now, the feast!" The empty golden plates filled with all sorts of food, but, before anyone in the Great Hall could even grab anything a thick grey smoke leaked from where the wall and floor met, quickly rising and blocking out all light. Students tried in vain to light their wands or see the room around them. A couple of people screamed.

Then, as soon as the fog came, it began to dissipate, swirling and rising until the students of Hogwarts could see again and as one they looked up to the dissipating, swirling smoke as it sailed over the candles blowing them all out before sinking into the ceiling.

Professor Dumbledore flicked his wand and the candles relit, the warm firelight quickly refilling the temporarily dark Hall. Everyone looks at each other, confused and worried and apprehensive glances met and then searched the room for something amiss. But there was nothing. Everything was as it was. Slowly people began to talk again, and then began to eat, and soon the Great Hall returned to as it was.

Then, suddenly, the plates rose into the air, as did the food they carried. Goblets and jugs floated out of reach, and then, so did the benches. The tables followed. A few students screamed and gripped onto the bench for dear life, others laughed and held their hands up in the air. Then, those people began to float as well.

Within the span of a minute everyone and everything was floating around, a few were adventurous enough to swim through the air, kicking their feet and using their arms to propel themselves forward. The plates and goblets that floated to the ceiling spelled out, _Have a Good Summer_ _~ Marauders_.

After five to ten minutes of a zero gravity everything began to slowly and gently return to its spot and, in as long as it had taken everything to rise, everything was on the ground again. Students cheered and James and Sirius fist-bumped underneath the table, giving Remus and Peter a knowing smirk. Success.

The Marauders, still unknown to their peers, walked with the rest of the Gryffindor House to the Gryffindor Tower, the last time they would make that journey this year. They whispered excitedly to themselves of the prank.

"That went brilliantly!" James said excitedly.

"Nice find with the Coating Charm," Remus congratulated Sirius with a slight shove.

Sirius bowed his head. "A charm that coats everything it touches so you can apply the spell of your choice to a number of things at once."

"Then all we needed was _Wingardium Leviosa_," James finished still smiling. It was actually remarkable simple, but the effect didn't give that impression.

"I'm gonna miss this," Sirius said wistfully.

Remus nodded in agreement.

"Don't, you'll all be coming to my place this summer," James told them.

"Do we have a choice?" Remus asked.

James shook his head. "Nope, if you don't come willingly, I'll bring you there by force," The foursome walked through the Portrait Hole, through the common room, and into their dorm. Frank was waiting for them.

"Hey mate," Sirius greeted their last dormmate before jumping onto his bed.

"Hi guys," Frank responded. He was packing, stuffing the last of his things into his trunk before slamming it shut.

"What are you doing for the summer?" James asked him.

He shrugged. "Nothing much, though my Mum did mention that we might go to America."

"That's cool," Remus commented.

"Only if we go," Frank told him with a smile. "What about you lot, any plans?"

"Nothing farther than Muggle London in all likelihood," James responded.

"Anytime out of the house would be fine with me," Sirius said.

"I don't think I'm going anywhere in particular," Remus replied.

"I'll probably visit my brother in Egypt; he's been doing some research there with curse-breakers." Peter told the group.

They spent the next while talking about Peter going to Egypt, making him promise to bring back some souvenirs. Then, yawning, they one by one went to bed and fell asleep, getting ready for the next day's train ride.

* * *

><p><em>James was tied up, his arms and legs bound to a chair. Tenebrae stood over him, wand outstretched. Then there was pain, unimaginable pain, as if thousands of white hot knives were stabbing and twisting and cutting at every part of his body at once. He flailed around but was restrained by his bonds. Then the pain stopped and Tenebrae's laugh filled the room, echoing off the walls. The wand pointed at James's face yet again and again he felt the pain, such excruciating pain<em>-

James sat up in bed panting. His pajamas were damp and sticking to his chest. He sat like that, panting and sweating behind the curtains of his four-poster until he was able to regain his composure. He pulled away his curtains and looked at his clock: five in the morning. James's eyes looked to the open window seeing the first hints of sun on the horizon and smelling the cool summer night.

He sighed. There was no way he was going to return to sleep now. James made his way out of the dorm and down the boy's staircase as quietly as he could manage. He pushed the door open and emerged in the common room.

It wasn't empty, as he had suspected it to be. There was but one person, a girl, with flaming red hair and, though he couldn't see them, emerald green eyes. James almost laughed.

_What are the odds?_

"Morning Evans," James greeted her casually. He walked up to the couch she was sitting on and sat next to her, noticing the book in her lap.

"Good morning," She responded. "I didn't make you for an early riser."

James smiled. "I'm usually horrible about it. One thing I look forward to in the summer, being able to sleep in a room without those animals,"

Lily laughed. "They can't be _that _bad,"

"Says you," James countered.

"Touché"

"What about you? Do you see the sunrise often?"

Lily shook her head. "Can't say that I do. I've actually been reading,"

"All night?" James asked incredulously.

"All night," She confirmed.

"Lily Evans, party animal," James said with a smirk.

She hit him playfully and responded with, "That's me."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"Looking forward to the holidays?" James asked.

Lily thought for a second. "I suppose, but I'll be counting the days until the First."

James nodded. "Fair enough. The holidays are nice but they get boring after a while."

They were silent again. Lily looked as if she was going to ask him something and then stopped herself. More silence. Lily decided to ask.

"How are you doing?"

"Me? I'm fine, I'm fine. Everything's… good?" He said the last part almost as if he was making a suggestion.

Lily nodded, looking as if she wanted to press on before stopping herself.

"You?" James asked.

"Hmm?"

"How about you?"

"I'm fine too I suppose," Lily responded. They sat in silence again.

"So…" James let the word hang in the air, hoping Lily would start the conversation and end the awkwardness.

"So…" Lily repeated the word, not taking the bait.

"Sew buttons," James responded. He ran his hand through his hair and Lily laughed at his bad pun.

"Don't laugh," James told her. "It was horrible,"

"That's why I'm laughing,"

"It's just something my Mum says," James added, using the information in defense for his horrible joke.

"Is she alright?" Lily asked.

James paused. "To be perfectly honest I don't know,"

Lily didn't say anything, wanting to let him finish.

"She's alive but alright? I mean, she looks so much… _older_. She's taking at least half a dozen potions a day and isn't being let out of St. Mungos for another week." He paused. "I'm worried about her. There's bound to be side effects. Some people go insane from the Cruciatus curse and she took a lot. I heard Healers say there was a fifty/fifty chance of her surviving. A coin flip. A coin flip decided if my mother lived or died." He took a deep breath. He saw that Lily's eyes were wet and felt that his were too. He took a deep breath.

"But, what's done is done I suppose. How about a change of topic? I never did get to ask what you thought of the Quidditch Match." He did his best to smile.

So they talked about the Quidditch Final and James went into great detail on the finer points of Quidditch in general, as Lily was still unsure about some things. He explained all sorts of rules and gave her play by play reenactments of games, and Lily seemed interested enough. Slowly the common room saw more people enter it, mostly people heading down to the Great Hall before the train arrived. After a few people turned into the bulk of the House Lily stood up.

"I've got to go make sure I have all my stuff," She told him.

James nodded. "I'll send you my copy of Quidditch through the Ages if you'd like,"

"Sure," Then with a nod she made her way to the girl's staircase and up to her dorm.

James smiled to himself before going to the boy's dorm to wake his friends. When he entered the now clean dorm he almost didn't recognize it and he was surprised to find that the rest of his dorm was already getting ready for the day, pulling on Muggle clothes and double checking that they had all of their belongings.

"Hey mate, where've you been?" Sirius asked him as he pulled a T-shirt over his head.

"I was just in the common room," James responded.

Sirius shrugged and James changed quickly, allowing the Marauders to make there way to the Great Hall for a quick breakfast before they would take the carriages to the Hogwarts Express.

The Hall still held the Gryffindor decorations from the night before and James smiled at the sight. He quickly ate a couple of waffles and finished just as they were told to get to the carriages.

On their way out of the school the foursome passed Professor McGonagall.

"Have a gold holiday Professor!"

"See you in September!"

She rolled her eyes but gave them a small, barely visible but still there smile and a wave before disappearing back into the school to gather the stragglers and ensure no one missed the trains.

It wasn't long before James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter all climbed into an empty compartment in the Hogwarts express and settled in for the ride.

"Exploding Snap?" James asked, taking out a deck and beginning to shuffle it. Sirius and Peter joined and they decided to use the dangerously explosive wizarding deck to play a game of Muggle Poker (**A/N: Texas Hold 'em just because it's the game I'm most familiar with and because I don't know any British card games)**. Remus read his book but looked over every once in a while and even played a couple of hands.

The trolley lady came by and the Marauders bought more than enough junk food to keep them busy through the train ride. Then Peter had the idea to bet snacks instead of just playing for fun.

"I'll raise you three chocolate frogs," James said, pushing the sweets into the center.

"Call," Sirius responded, throwing in a couple of Cauldron Cakes. "I'd say that's about even."

James nodded. Peter looked at his cards nervously and said, "Fold."

James and Sirius put their cards down.

"Straight," James told Sirius proudly.

"Flush," Sirius replied with a smile.

"Damn it!" James cursed as Sirius laughed, pulling all of the sweets closer to him and licking his lips.

"Good game."

James mumbled in response. Sirius opened one of James's chocolate frogs and looked at the card as he bit the head off.

"Nice, Bowman Wright!" Sirius said happily. James could have cried.

"You got Bowman Wright! I've been looking for him for ages!"

Sirius tutted. "Shouldn't have bet the chocolate frogs."

James opened his mouth to respond when their compartment door opened.

"Afternoon Snivellus," Sirius greeted, not even bothering to look at the Slytherin or the thugs behind him.

Snape ignored Sirius and looked to James. "You must think you're so important. So _special_."

James looked at Snape confusedly. "Think?"

Snape made an aggravated noise and pulled out his wand. James made no move. The Slytherin looked confused.

James, taking note of the look said, "I'm not in the mood Snape. You can make an appointment next year but as of now, I'm off the clock."

"Coward," Snape spit.

"I know you are but what am I?" James countered childishly.

"Upset about your Mum Potty?" Avery sneered from behind Snape. "I heard she's gone mental,"

James felt his hand wrap around his wand but, before it was even pulled out of his pocket flashes of light came from behind him leaving something that resembled more a blob than a boy where Avery had been standing moments earlier. James looked to see Sirius standing, wand outstretched, Remus putting his wand back into his pocket, and Peter looking at his wand, as if not believing he had just fired a hex.

"I'd leave Snivelly, unless you want to look like your mate over there. Though it would probably be a vast improvement." Sirius told the Slytherin threateningly, still holding his wand outstretched. The Slytherins levitated Avery and left.

"What was that all about?" James asked, smiling at the picture of Avery as a pile of goo.

"You've been in the papers, figured you wouldn't want to know so I didn't tell you. Your kidnapping was front page news all week. They made you out to be quiet the hero." Remus told him.

"And properly so," Sirius winked at him.

"Plus maybe Lily told him that you guys were talking this morning," Peter commented.

"How-" James spluttered.

"Mate, you walked into the dorm this morning with the stupidest grin on your face. It couldn't have been anything but Lily," Sirius told him.

James rolled his eyes and tried to hide his reddening cheeks. "Whatever,"

The rest of the train ride passed with snacks and talking and a few games of Wizard Chess and Gobstones. The fields outside their window turned to houses with gardens and eventually buildings with people bustling about. They reached King's Cross station before sunset and grabbed their trunks, pushing through the crowds of older students. They passed people giving hugs of goodbye and hello and one by one, the Marauders went off to their parents, waving and promising to owl one another, wishing each other luck and looking forward to their next reunion. Because summer could be great, but Hogwarts was spectacular.

**A/N: And that's the end of To Solemnly Swear: Year Two. Year Three will be up by the end of next week but reviews will make that process go a lot faster. If you've just read this chapter, whether you have been leaving reviews since the beginning or this is your first one, I would really appreciate if you told me what you think of this story insofar. Thank you to all of those who have favorited, followed, reviewed, or read my story, I hope you have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy. Thank you.**

**Jaisler**


	28. Chapter 27 continued

27continued

**A/N: I as just beginning to write the first chapter of year three when I remembered I had left this section out. I am posting it as a separate chapter because I want you guys to be able to review it but eventually I'll combine the two. It's short but it was suppose to be at the tail end of the last chapter.**

Tenebrae appeared from nowhere in front of a dark house. Trees surrounded it at all sides and shaded the house completely from the sun. Tall black iron gates waited at the entrance but opened immediately upon the Death Eater's arrival.

The Dark Wizard kept his face impassive as he made his way up the long walkway to the dark house. His black robe billowed around him as he swiftly walked up the pathway and to the front door. It was a dark green, the paint chipping; the knocker was barely recognizable yet Tenebrae knew what it was; a crow.

He made to push the door open but it swung in on its own accord. Tenebrae entered the house, walking past shelves of dark artifacts that made up a collection Darker and more gruesome than his owns. Eventually he entered a room where he saw a tapestry, a jumble of names stretching across tens of generations. He saw a few he recognized but moved past it, walking towards an ajar door with the light of a green fire. Tenebrae walked through the doorway.

"Hello Cyrus," The voice greeted him, heavy, sort of gravely, and commanding.

"M-m-master," Tenebrae responded reverently, bowing at the man sitting in a throne-like chair. The chair was intricate, two snakes curling to create armrests, the chair's back a series of pictures carved into the wood, depicting forests and Dark creatures. At the top of the chairs back stood a crow on either side though Tenebrae wasn't sure if they were alive, part of the chair, or both.

"You have failed me." Tenebrae looked up from his kneeling position, looking into the merciless face. The blond hair and stormy blue-grey eyes that shone in the firelight with a greenish glint.

"It will not happen again-" Cyrus Tenebrae began.

"No it will not," His master told him. "Those who fail us do not continue to work with our cause,"

"Master!" Tenebrae begged. "I'll do anything!"

"You have done enough!" He snapped. "We appear weak and our enemies stronger. The Potter boy is a symbol, and one that must be destroyed. You have served well, but your time has come to an end."

Cyrus Tenebrae looked pleadingly into the impassive face of Evan Bane who slowly reached into his robe pocket for his wand. Tenebrae had a brief thought to run, to pull his own wand, to fight, to do _something_, but it was futile.

He looked out the window behind his master at the night sky, the stars and half moon shedding light on the forest below.

"_Avada Kedevra!_"


End file.
